Postal strike likely

Northamptonshire postal workers have asked for public support in the event of a possible upcoming strike by county postal workers. The possible action would follow a national ballot for strike action over pay and the future of the Royal Mail.

The recent pay deal offered to workers was either a £600 lump sum or a 2.5% raise. Since inflation is currently 4.8% this would in actuality be a pay cut, but Royal Mail bosses are described by a local union representative as attaching ‘more strings than Pinocchio’ to any acceptance of even this paltry deal in an attempt to implement a business plan that would cut £350 million with a devastating effect on quality of service and the loss of around 40,000 jobs nationally.

Northampton postal workers’ mass meeting during 2005 wildcat strike

Strike action is nothing new for Northamptonshire postal workers, whose most recent victory followed an unofficial five-day wildcat strike in the summer of 2005 which saw local bosses retreat with their tails between their legs from attempts to implement a range of measures designed to cut costs and reduce earnings.

We wish our local postal workers well in any upcoming dispute.