UK Royal Mail Goes On Strike

UK's Royal Mail has issued the following statement on July 5

We are hugely disappointed to confirm that the CWU have given us notice of further strike action. The strike will start at 7pm on Thursday July 12th 2007, and continue through Friday 13th July. Please note this strike does not affect Royal Mail’s operations in Northern Ireland.
We have well-developed contingency plans in order to reduce the effect of the strike, but disruption is inevitable. Royal Mail’s priorities during the strike are: • protect vulnerable members of society, who depend on Post Office payments of pensions and social security • ensure customers can continue to post mail, through the Post Office network • maintain Royal Mail Special Delivery services wherever possible • maintain other delivery services wherever possible

What does it mean for our customers? • Access to Royal Mail services is available on strike days - but limited to a single collection from street boxes and Post Office Counters, which may be earlier than the advertised times • We will attempt to deliver Special Delivery items, but this cannot be guaranteed, and so the money-back guarantees on these services will be suspended for items posted on Thursday 12th July and Friday 13th July • Parcelforce’s guaranteed services will remain unaffected • Royal Mail’s Branch Direct, Sameday and Door to Door services remain unaffected • All other mail services will be subject to delay • We aim to return to normal as quickly as possible. We will deal with the backlog of mail in date order, which may affect mail services in the days after the strike.

How can you work with us to minimise the disruption to your mail? • Try to avoid posting on the day of any strike, and post early in the day if you really have to, • Post your mail at one of the 14,000 Post Offices not affected by strike action, but be aware that they will not be able to accept bulk mailings • Our customer service helpline – 08457 740 740 will operate, but will be very busy, so please be patient • Our web-site, www.royalmail.com, will contain the latest update on affected areas, so please log on to help you plan your mailings

A special message for Royal Mail’s Business Customers • We regret that Royal Mail will NOT be able to collect mail during the strike period • Please tell your account manager or the local Customer Operations Manager (COM) as much as possible about your mailing plans - especially those that are most important. This will help us to plan our resources. • Please post on non-strike days only • If you need to post on a strike day, you can take your mail direct to your local Mail Centre. -http://www.royalmail.com

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