Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Record
Daily Record
Politics
Peter Davidson

Scots to be without mail for FOUR days as workers set to go on strike

Scots are set to be without mail for four days after Royal Mail workers voted for strike action later this month.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) says services will be disrupted as a result of the industrial action, set to take place on August 26 and 31 as well as September 8 and 9 in a dispute over pay.

Deliveries and collections will be "shut down" across Scotland in the during the four days of actions, the union warned.

Workers have been offered a 5.5 per cent rise, but the CWU says the rise reflects a 2 per cent pay increase, a further 1.5 per cent in exchange for a change in terms and conditions as well as a £500 bonus.

Scottish regional secretary of the CWU, Craig Anderson told BBC's Good Morning Scotland on Wednesday that negotiations had broken down.

He said: "We're taking this action because we've been given no other option. The negotiations started in February regarding a pay rise for the workers within Royal Mail and the negotiations have broken down. They've imposed a 2 per cent pay award without agreement.

"They offered another 1.5 per cent based on signing away terms and conditions, and a further £500 as a bonus for having targets that they knew weren't achievable. So there was never a 5.5 per cent pay offer put on the table."

Anderson called for Royal Mail to "sit back round the table" and look at where members are at regarding the cost-of-living crisis.

He added: "A fair offer from our perspective would be for them they sit back round the table with us and actually look at where or what comes out at the moment with a cost-of-living crisis, where the company's been with the profits that they've made, and actually start negotiating on a percentage pay raise that reflects that."

CWU is among several unions taking strike action this summer in demands for increased pay offers for workers in light of the rising cost of living.

The union also has an ongoing pay dispute with BT. Anderson said it would be difficult to come to a figure due to the uncertainty surrounding inflation with the most recent figure sitting at 9.4 per cent.

"The difficulty we have at the moment is we don't know where inflation will be tomorrow never mind where it will be in six months' time.

"Our members don't want to go on strike but we've been given no other choice. We're at gridlock at the moment and as I say we'd be quite happy to sit back round the table to discuss a pay offer."

To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.

READ NEXT:

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.