Royal Mail strikes: Newcastle postal workers begin 19 days of walkouts - 18 other strike dates confirmed

Royal Mail workers in Newcastle have today joined thousands of colleagues all over the country in 19 days of strike action set to take place in October, November and December.

Picket lines have been set up as south as Devon and as north as Scotland, with a few picket lines also located in Northumberland.

Strike dates over the coming months will affect key periods for delivery services such as Cyber Monday, Black Friday and the festive season.

Across the country, some 115,000 Royal Mail workers will take part in the strikes, in a year where industrial action has been commonplace.

General Secretary of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), Dave Ward said on Twitter “Wow. Early signs are that on day six of strike action, the support is bigger than ever. Incredible. Postal Workers are the best of us. We will save the service”.

Why are Royal Mail workers striking?

Royal Mail workers are striking over a dispute regarding pay and working conditions.

When asked why the CWU is in a dispute over pay, they say “Our Royal Mail members have had an unagreed 2 per cent pay deal imposed on them.

“This is at a time when RPI inflation is currently running at 11.8 percent and when Royal Mail has announced Group profits of £758 million and when the company is paying out many millions to private shareholders.

“In a national strike ballot over pay, our Royal Mail members voted by a 97.6 percent majority to take action.”

Strike days for Royal Mail workers

CWU members at Royal Mail will walk out on each of the following days, which include Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

October – National Action – all Members Across all Functions

• 24 hours from 4am Thursday October 13  into Friday October 14 (Pay)

• 24 hours from 4am Thursday October 20 into Friday October 21 (Change)

• 24 hours from 4am from Tuesday October 25 into Wednesday October 26 (Change)

November – Functional Action (with the Exception of a Single Day’s National Action)

• 24 hours from 4am on Wednesday November 2 into Thursday November 3 = All Network

• 24 hours from 4am on Thursday November 3 into Friday November 4 = All Processing, Area Distribution, International, Collections, Admin and MDEC

• 24 hours from 4am on Friday November 4 into Saturday November 5 = All Deliveries

• 24 hours from 4am on Tuesday November 8 into Wednesday November 9= All Network

• 24 hours from 4am on Wednesday November 9 into Thursday November 10 = Processing, Area Distribution, International, Collections, Admin and MDEC

• 24 hours from 4am on Thursday November 10 into Friday November 11= All Deliveries

• 24 hours from 4am Monday November 14 into Tuesday November 15 = All Network

• 24 hours from 4am Tuesday November 15 into Wednesday November 16= Processing, Area Distribution, International, Collections, Admin and MDEC.

• 24 hours from 4am Wednesday November 16 into Thursday November 17= All Deliveries

Black Friday week

• 24 hours from 4am on Wednesday November 23 into Thursday November 24 = All Network

• 24 hours from 4am on Thursday November 24 into Friday November 25= All Processing, Area Distribution, Collections, International, Admin and MDEC

• 24 hours from 4am on Friday November 25 into Saturday November 26= All Deliveries

• 24 hours all out on Cyber Monday November 28 into Tuesday November 29 = Everyone

• 24 hours from 4am on Wednesday November 30 into Thursday December 1= All Network

• 24 hours from 4am on Thursday December 1 into Friday December 2 = All Processing, Area Distribution, Collections, International, Admin and MDEC

• 24 hours from 4am on Friday December 2 into Saturday December 3 = All Deliveries