UK : More than 300 post offices to be hit by 24-hour walkout
More than 300 major post offices will be hit by a 24-hour walkout on Thursday as workers protest against branch closures, job cuts and pension changes.
About 4,000 members of the Communication Workers Union, which represents postal workers, and about 700 members of Unite, which acts for managers, are to picket around the country throughout the day.
The action comes despite talks through Acas, the arbitration service, earlier this week which are expected to continue next week.
Workers voted to strike after the government-owned service confirmed plans to transfer more than 60 of its largest outlets to the private sector. Along with other cost-cutting proposals, the closures will lead to the loss of around 2,000 of its 6,600-strong workforce in crown branches, back office and cash handling.
About half the Post Office’s 7,000-strong workforce is also being forced to shift from a final salary pension scheme to a defined contribution scheme, which unions say could cut retirement benefits by 30% or more in some cases.
Jeremy Corbyn, whose bid to hold on to the Labour leadership is being backed by CWU, will also host a meeting of Post Office workers in parliament at lunchtime on Thursday.
Corbyn released a video supporting the strikers and describing Post Office workers as loyal public servants.
“I’m struck by the strategy of the Post Office to get rid of them, close the Crown Post Offices, franchise out and privatise the service and bring in a group of people on lower wages, worse conditions, not as skilled, not as experienced in many cases and not as able to deliver that public service,” he said.
“We have the Post Office network for a reason. It is part of the social fabric of this country. It was set up to give a good post office in every high street in every town and I find it beyond sad the way it’s been treated.”
The Post Office said that the vast majority of its 11,600-strong network would be open for business as usual on Thursday.
More than 11,000 branches – 97% of the Post Office network – are run by independent businesses and the 50,000 people who work in these branches are not involved in the strike action.
Kevin Gilliland, the Post Office’s network and sales director, said the service had contingency plans in place to ensure that it could operate normally with sufficient cash and stock.
“The Post Office is a national institution that is successfully adapting to change and we are safeguarding the future of the network,” he said. He said the changes to the Post Office’s pension arrangements were “the responsible thing to do both for members of the plan and for the long-term financial health of the business.”