Post Office staff in Leighton Buzzard set to join strike action over pay row

The planned strike action comes after Royal Mail managers voted to strike on Wednesday ( June 29), with members of the Unite union saying it would confirm strike dates in the coming days.

The union said Royal Mail plans to cut 542 frontline delivery managers’ jobs alongside a redeployment programme to bring in worsening terms and conditions.

The dispute involves around 2,400 managers across more than 1,000 delivery offices.

Why are Royal Mail workers walking out?

Crown Post Offices will close for one day as workers strike against a real-term pay cut.

The union rejected a pay offer it said was worth 3%, on top of a freeze from April 2021, plus a £500 lump sum.

It described the offer as “insulting” given that inflation has just hit 9.1% - its highest rate in 40 years.

The Post Office said the vast majority of its 11,500 branches would be unaffected by the strike action, which will be the third national industrial strike by its workers this year.

A post office spokesman said: “There are 114 branches, typically in city centres, that are directly managed by Post Office and on previous strike days over a third have opened as usual.

“We’re disappointed that the CWU have made the decision to strike but remain hopeful that we can reach a pay agreement soon.”

“No worker wants to be in this situation but Post Office bosses can’t be surprised that callous decisions are challenged by our members.

“This dispute is about dignity and respect for hard-working employees, essential public servants who, as key workers, provided unprecedented customer service during the pandemic.”

The PO made £35m in profits in its 2020-21 financial year, down from £86m in pre-pandemic 2019-20.

Post Office branches affected by strike action include Leighton Buzzard and Milton Keynes.

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