Royal Mail national strike looms as Amazon pulls contract

by Noelle McElhatton, marketingdirectmag.co.uk 08-Sep-09, 08:00

LONDON - A national postal strike, the second in two years, is expected to be the result of a ballot of 120,000 Royal Mail workers held late last month.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said this morning it is confident of support for local strikes to become nationwide.

The general secretary of the CWU, Billy Hayes, told the BBC: "We are very confident. All the signs are that [postal workers] will support the union on what is a referendum on the management of Royal Mail."

"We don't want a strike, we want a negotiated settlement," he added.

The news comes as Royal Mail was reported to have lost a £25 million contract with Amazon, its second largest customer.

Royal Mail has been beset by a series of wildcat strikes since July in a dispute over the modernisation of the service, pay, conditions and pensions.

The CWU says it accepts the need for change, such as the introduction of new sorting technology to help counter the threat of competition, but claims that Royal Mail is not consulting the union about new working practices.

Direct marketing clients are increasingly worried about the reliability of Royal Mail and the havoc the strikes are causing to activities related to direct mail such as contact centres.

Comments

GRAHAM DODD - 22/09/2009

BT's use of door drops as an alternative to direct mail is an opportunity that more clients should open their eyes to, as should the potential strike which will also affect Royal Mail's D2D service. Targeting opportunities in the door drop industry have improved considerably since many marketers last \(or ever) tested door drops, because testing appears to have fallen off of most marketers' radars. Door drops will not replace direct mail, but they can work together.