Workers to Walk Out Over Pay Dispute – Post Office Strike

Thousands of Post Office workers are on strike on Saturday over a pay dispute. Some 114 Crown Post Offices – those directly owned by the company – will close for a 24-hour period, while sub-post offices will have no cash deliveries or collections. The Communication Workers Union are angry over a pay freeze in 2021-22 and a 2% rise for the following year. The Post Office said the vast majority of its 11,000 branches were not covered by the strike and will open as usual. It said in a statement: “There are 114 branches – typically in city centres – across the UK that are directly managed by Post Office. “Posters are displayed which show where the nearest alternative branches are located. The branches impacted are larger ones – often located on the high street – which are directly owned by the Post Office itself.

Around 3,500 members of staff are involved in the dispute. A strike already took place at the start of May – and there are further walkouts planned for Monday. The CWU said that Post Office managers had been insisting on a pay freeze for 2021-22 “despite the company generating a profit for the last two years during the pandemic from the efforts of their key worker employees”. “Insultingly, Post Office has offered just a 2% pay increase – plus a £250 one-off payment (pro-rata for part-timers) for 2022-23,” a spokesperson from the CWU added. The union said this offer was not enough to keep up with rapid increases in the cost of living, which is currently rising at 7% a year. The CWU said its members voted by 97.3% on a 70.2% turnout to take strike action.