Chipping Norton postal workers on the picket line were provided with breakfast sausage baps by members of Chipping Norton Labour Party, and the Oxfordshire Health Services Branch of UNISON.

Some 170,000 members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) working for Royal Mail, BT group and Openreach, took strike action with picket lines mounted outside Royal Mail offices across the country.

The action follows a walkout last week and there will be further stoppages on Thursday September 8 and Friday September 9.

The action is in protest at a 2 per cent pay rise, although the company has said more money is on offer.

In Chipping Norton, the postal workers held aloft a replica banner from the Bliss Mill Strike of 1913-14.

Speaking to over 25 postmen and women, family members and supporters, Cllr Steve Akers, chair of Chipping Norton Labour Party, said: "'The imposition of a 2 per cent pay award, without negotiation with your union is deplorable.

"This is not the way Royal Mail Group should conduct industrial relations.

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"This does not address the cost of living crisis that you and your families, along with millions of other workers in the UK, now face.

"It is totally wrong for Royal Mail Group senior executives, who award themselves huge pay rises and bonuses, to treat you in this way. Without you, there is no Royal Mail! This is why we stand with you in this dispute."

Mr Akers promised that Chipping Norton Labour Party would continue its support.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “The CWU’s self-centred actions with the wider trade union movement is putting jobs at risk, and making pay rises less affordable.

“We are losing £1 million a day and the CWU’s strike action is making our situation worse. We want to protect well-paid, permanent jobs long term and retain our place as the industry leader on pay, terms and conditions."

It said the CWU failed to respond to its latest invitation to meet to discuss change and pay.

“Our future is as a parcels business. We must adapt old ways of working designed for letters to a world increasingly dominated by parcels and act fast.

“We cannot cling to outdated working practices, ignoring technological advancements and pretending that Covid has not significantly changed what the public wants from Royal Mail," he said.

 

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