The first Royal Mail strike in over a decade will bring the postal service to a standstill in less than two weeks time, jeopardising medical deliveries and potentially isolating the elderly.

Around 115,000 Royal Mail employees will launch four days of industrial action on Friday 26th August and Wednesday 31st, and again on Thursday September 8th and Friday 9th – the first walk out of its kind since 2009.

It comes after the Communication Workers’ Union and Royal Mail failed to reach an agreement over pay and conditions in the face of soaring inflation. But the strike will leave millions of households without important letters, parcels and prescriptions.

Which post will be delayed?

Royal Mail said it had ‘contingency plans in place’ to minimise the upcoming disruption, but has admitted that delays are very likely.
Covid testing kits, medical prescriptions, special deliveries and tracked parcels will be ‘prioritised’, but there are no guarantees they will arrive on time.

Letters and normal parcels are at even greater risk of being delayed, or even lost, at unmanned sorting offices. Royal Mail usually aims to deliver first class post the next working day and second class post within two to three working days.

If you’d like to talk about your upcoming mailing and how to avoid the backlog – get in touch with us.

Credits – The Telegraph / CWU