Category Archives: Royal Mail

Ex-Royal Mail boss hits out at board for ‘confrontational path’ on strikes

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Rico Back believes postal service’s talks with union have been poorly handled

The former Royal Mail boss Rico Back has launched a withering attack on the company’s board, saying its chief executive lacked experience and had mishandled talks with the Communication Workers Union that led to strikes and chaos in the run-up to Christmas.

Royal Mail has been locked for months in an increasingly bitter battle with the CWU over pay and changes to working conditions. Simon Thompson joined as chief executive two years ago from the online grocer Ocado.

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Chuka Umunna advises Czech tycoon accused of Royal Mail plot

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Ex-Labour MP and former critic of privatisation risks claims of hypocrisy over advisory role with Daniel Křetínský

The MP turned banker, Chuka Umunna, is advising a Czech tycoon who was accused of planning a secret takeover of Royal Mail by union leaders.

The former Labour MP is one of a team of bankers working on Daniel Křetínský’s British business interests, many of which are held within Vesa Equity Investment, including a 23% stake in Royal Mail’s parent company, International Distributions Services (IDS).

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Royal Mail urges people to use or swap non-barcoded stamps

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Deadline is 31 January, although there will then be six-month grace period with such post still delivered

Do you have a book of stamps in your wallet, purse or drawer at home? Maybe you have stockpiled them to avoid future price rises.

If so, you need to be aware that the official deadline for using up stamps without barcodes – notably the regular first and second-class “everyday” stamps featuring the profile of the late Queen – is getting closer.

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Border Force staff join strikes as postal workers walk out again

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Passengers arriving in UK can expect longer queues while mail may not arrive in time for Christmas

Border Force officials will on Friday join the wave of industrial action across Britain, starting the first of a series of strikes at airports, while Royal Mail workers walk out again for two days before Christmas.

Passengers travelling into the UK have been warned to be prepared for longer queues at immigration in airports, while many letters and parcels will now go undelivered before Christmas, as staff take action over pay trailing behind inflation.

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Two in five people experienced parcel delivery issues last Christmas

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Consumer group Which? said many packages were thrown in ponds, arrived late or were left in the rain

Parcels chucked over fences into ponds, packages hidden in bins and laptops left out in the pouring rain – these are just some of the Christmas parcel delivery failures reported by consumers.

A delivery of pet tarantulas delayed overnight in transit was one of the strangest parcel problems reported to consumer group Which? in a survey of festive delivery difficulties.

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Royal Mail workers to go ahead with strikes before Christmas after rejecting pay offer

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CWU members to strike on dates around Black Friday and Christmas after spurning ‘final’ pay offer up to 9%

Strikes by postal workers around Black Friday and in the run-up to Christmas are to go ahead after their union rejected a pay offer that Royal Mail said was final.

Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) will strike for 48 hours on Thursday and Friday and on 30 November and 1 December, and will also carry out single days of action on 9, 11, 14, 15 and 23 December and on Christmas Eve.

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Royal Mail workers union calls off planned strikes after legal challenge

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CWU is involved in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions with the company

Planned strikes by Royal Mail workers in the next two weeks have been called off after a challenge by the company.

Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) are involved in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions. A series of strikes has taken place in recent weeks and more had been planned on 2, 3, 4, 8, 9 and 10 November.

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Royal Mail ‘at crossroads’ as pandemic parcel boom fades

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Postal service says it needs to adapt to post-Covid business world amid near-9% drop in profits and union pay battle

Royal Mail has warned that the company is at a “crossroads” and needs to urgently adapt to the post-pandemic environment as parcel deliveries, originally boosted by Covid lockdowns, continue to wane.

It piles further pressure on the postal company, as it struggles to reach a pay deal with unionised staff who are pushing for an inflation-based pay rise as the cost of living soars.

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Special delivery: Royal Mail to expand drone drops with 50 new routes

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The new ‘postal drone routes’ will improve the reliability of mail services to remote communities, the company said

Royal Mail has announced plans to increase its use of drones for deliveries with the creation of 50 new “postal drone routes” over the next three years.

Under a partnership with logistics drone company Windracers, and subject to Civil Aviation Authority approval, the move will provide faster and more convenient services for remote communities, Royal Mail said.

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Royal Mail told workers may strike over alleged ‘fire and rehire’ plans

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Union says company aims to sack nearly 1,000 managers and bring in lower rates of pay

Royal Mail is being warned it could be hit by strikes over plans to cut managers’ jobs.

Unite said the company was aiming to sack nearly 1,000 managers and bring in lower rates of pay in another case of “fire and rehire”, which Royal Mail denies.

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‘Lives across from the Spar’: bizarrely labelled letter finds way to UK address

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Antrim musician Feargal Lynn offers Royal Mail ‘hearty applause’ for successfully delivering letter to him

Sherlock Holmes might have balked, but the Royal Mail detectives came up trumps when they correctly delivered a letter with an address that was more like an episode of This Is Your Life than a conventional street name and postcode.

Writing on Twitter, the County Antrim musician Feargal Lynn said the postal system deserved “hearty applause” for successfully delivering the letter addressed by following a brief history of his family in the area.

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