Royal Mail strike - live: Postal workers hold rally in London as walkout causes delays

Today’s Royal Mail strike marks the first in a series this month in the run-up to Christmas.

Further strike action will take place on:

Sunday 11 December

Wednesday 14 December

Thursday 15 December

Friday 23 December

Saturday 24 December.

On strike days, Royal Mail has said that disruptions are likely. Staff will not be delivering letters with the exception of those sent with Special Delivery, but it cannot guarantee they will arrive.

Rishi Sunak has declined to provide details of “tough” new anti-strike laws being considered, stressing that he wants to “protect lives and to minimise the disruption” caused by industrial action.

Speaking during a visit to an RAF base in Lincolnshire, the Prime Minister said: “We’re looking at everything right now at pace but my priority is going to be to protect lives and to minimise the disruption on people’s lives.

“So the Government is trying its best to act reasonably, that’s why we’ve accepted in full the recommendations of independent bodies who make recommendations to the Government about pay settlements in the public sector, and often those pay settlements have been higher than what many people in the private sector are receiving, but the Government accepted them in full to be reasonable, to be fair.

“But it’s right now that we also look to minimise the disruption on people’s lives and that’s why we’re looking at tough new laws.”

As inflation has climbed steadily throughout year, workers have seen rising prices eroding their earnings – just as employers have been trying to make savings or modernise working practices to cope with increasing costs.

The result? Clashes over pay, redundancies, pensions and terms and conditions.

A new “winter of discontent” had begun even before Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement on 17 November, which left householders everywhere feeling even worse off.

And with the cost of living crisis set to deepen, the disputes will inevitably grow fiercer.

These are the professions and industries for which strike dates have already been announced.

“We won’t stand back and watch the Uberisation of our postal service”, says Dave Ward, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union.

“This week towns and cities across the country have seen postal workers standing on picket lines with their supporters in the wider community.

“For three months now, 115,000 members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) – the union I am proud to lead – have been on strike, having voted by nearly 100 per cent in two separate ballots this summer to take action.”

More here:

Rail passengers face severe travel disruption over Christmas and the New Year as workers stage a series of 48-hour strikes in December and January in the long-running dispute over jobs, pay and conditions.

The RMT union has revealed that more than 40,000 workers across Network Rail and 14 train operating companies will stage a series of 48-hour walk-outs.

Industrial action will take place on 13, 14, 16 and 17 December and on 3, 4, 6 and 7 January.

On Monday it announced further strike dates to take place over the key Christmas period, with members walking out from 6pm on 24 December until 7am on 27 December. Most trains do not run on 25 and 26 December anyway, but those aiming to travel by rail to see loved ones either side of Christmas Day will be affected.

Helen Coffey has more:

The military will be used to minimise disruption from strikes, Rishi Sunak has confirmed.

Mr Sunak today visited the RAF Coningsby base in Lincolnshire to thank personnel for their service in the coming weeks.

He said that the government had acted “fairly and reasonably” in accepting the recommendations of independent pay review bodies on public sector salary increases this year.

Rishi Sunak has confirmed that many military personnel are to be drafted in to prevent disruption during industrial action over Christmas, in a move which has been condemned by union bosses as “strike-breaking”.

In an indication that ministers are losing hope of averting a wave of stoppages over the festive season, Mr Sunak said he would not give in to union demands on pay and was focusing on minimising disruption to day-to-day life.

The prime minister was speaking as the Ministry of Defence confirmed that troops have been training at Heathrow and Gatwick since the start of this week in preparation to man passport booths when Border Force officials walk out.

Political Editor Andrew Woodcock has more:

It is up to railway companies and not the Government to prevent overcrowding on trains on strike days over Christmas, Downing Street has suggested.

A No 10 spokesman told reporters: “I will have to point you to Network Rail, who will obviously work with the train operating companies on the timetables over the Christmas period.

“But the more fundamental point I think the Prime Minister has made on a number of occasions is that we want unions to call off the strikes given we know the level of disruption they’re going to cause, not just for people but for also businesses.”

The official added: “DfT (Department for Transport) will obviously work closely with Network Rail, but it’s for them to devise the timetable.

“We acknowledge there will be disruption to people’s travel plans over the Christmas period. We would urge people to be aware through Network Rail and the other operating companies who are setting out what the timetables will be, what people can expect.”

There is only one day this month – by The Independent’s count – for which there is no major protest demonstration currently scheduled, Saturday 10 December, and that could well change.

Royal Mail says it has “well-developed contingency plans” in place but “cannot fully replace the daily efforts of our frontline workforce,” assuring customers it would be “doing what we can to keep services running” while warning that the strikes are “likely to cause you some disruption”.

Here is a timeline of all of the strike dates announced so far for December 2022 and early January 2023.