Royal Mail strikes have limited effect on business

Despite the ongoing troubles being faced by Royal Mail, the majority of businesses polled by Marketing Week say they have not been significantly affected by recent postal strikes.

Industrial action: Postal workers
Industrial action: Postal workers

According to an online poll on MarketingWeek.co.uk, 66% of respondents said they were not affected, 22% said they were, while 12% were undecided.

The results follow a strike by 200 postal workers London on 17 July that was joined by a further 5,000 workers. It lasted throughout the week with an estimated 12,000 staff taking part at different points during the week, according to the Communications Workers Union.
The disruption followed strike action that lasted for three days earlier that month.

Postal workers have continued to take a strong stance over job cuts and pay freezes, which they say are affecting services.
However, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has argued that strikes will simply anger the public and businesses that rely on Royal Mail’s services.

The postal operator has further said that the walk out would hamper its strategy to modernise its operations as it faces a 10% decline in UK mail volumes.

Meanwhile, Royal Mail has been accused of being “anti-competitive” by some critics after it announced it would cut the rate of its most popular tariff by 3%, in a move that could price rivals such as TNT Post out of the market.

Post-Switch.com founder Jonathan DeCarteret claims the rate reduction will result in a loss of income of over £150m a year for Royal Mail.

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