Industrial action by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) will continue in November. The strike action will continue to disrupt the UK mail network and also delay the despatch of parcels overseas. Team members at Everything Dinosaur are working hard to try to mitigate the impact of this strike action on their customers.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

A Statement from Royal Mail

Everything Dinosaur has received the following statement issued by Royal Mail’s management:

“The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has notified us they plan to call on their members who collect, sort and deliver parcels and letters to take six days of strike action in November. Royal Mail has well-developed contingency plans, but we cannot fully replace the daily efforts of our frontline workforce. We’ll do what we can to keep services running, but you should expect disruption when strike action is taking place.”

Royal Mail and the CWU – Facilitation

The CWU and Royal Mail have jointly agreed to engage with the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), in a bid to resolve this current dispute. Both parties are working hard and wish to see a resolution, however, there are significant differences in their respective positions. A preliminary session took place on Tuesday 25th of October with a follow-up meeting on Thursday 27th of October. The planned strike action in November is still scheduled to go ahead.

What Does the Strike Action Mean for Postal Services?

The planned strike action scheduled to commence in November is different to the national strike action which had occurred previously. Different parts of the Royal Mail network will be affected on different days. The Communication Workers Union is taking industrial action in different parts of Royal Mail on different days of the week.

Royal Mail has summarised the impact these strikes are expected to have on services, in the table below:

Table credit: Royal Mail

Disruption to Delivery and Collection Services

Everything Dinosaur has numerous collections by Royal Mail scheduled each week. The nature of this industrial action means that our warehouse collections will be affected on one day during each week of strike action. Larger vehicle collections are more likely to be affected on 3 and 9 November and smaller van collections on 4 and 10 November. However, Royal Mail are unlikely to be able to provide us with advance notice as to which of our collections will be affected.

Delivery services will also be affected. UK Customers will not receive postal deliveries on either Friday 4th of November or Thursday the 9th of November.

Everything Dinosaur Working Hard to Help You

Everything Dinosaur has implemented contingency plans to help to minimise the inconvenience for customers, but with the on-going Royal Mail industrial action and strikes at UK ports the advice given in previous blog posts remains pertinent.

Please shop early for Christmas!

For information on Everything Dinosaur’s customer service/shipping and deliveries: Everything Dinosaur – Customer Service.

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:

“We have an extremely good relationship with all the delivery companies that we work with, although we are beginning to see delays in parcel deliveries due to this industrial action. We have our own plans in place to help minimise any disruption to our customers, we are working weekends to ensure that orders can be despatched as promptly as possible, in order to reduce any delays. We do advise that it is best to shop early to avoid disappointment in the lead up to the festive season.”

Note

Following a legal letter from Royal Mail, the Communications Workers Union (CWU) has called off the industrial action scheduled for the 2, 3, 4, 8, 9 and 10 of November. Royal Mail and the CWU are due to attend further talks on the 31st October (2022).