Royal Mail, BT and Openreach workers in Glasgow strike over pay

Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) are walking out over pay conditions amid long-running disputes with the companies and many have already taken strike action in recent weeks.

Postal workers were striking for the seventh day on Thursday, October 20 and we visited picket lines at the Royal Mail Glasgow Mail Centre in Springburn and the delivery office in Cambuslang, two of many occurring across the UK.

READ MORE: Royal Mail workers join massive strike action today over pay dispute

Union members told the Glasgow Times that a 2% pay rise implemented by Royal Mail was not enough and that workers were still struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.

Alan Donnachie, Glasgow area processing representative for the CWU, said: “This is day seven of CWU industrial action with Royal Mail.

“Today’s strike is a pay-based strike - We requested a no-strings-attached pay rise.

“Royal Mail implemented a 2% pay rise.

“Key workers who worked during the pandemic, who were applauded on the doorsteps, are not being awarded a correct pay rise, and the cost-of-living crisis with inflation reaching 10% is unaffordable.

“We’ve got colleagues that we represent having to use food banks that work full time, and we think this is totally unacceptable.

“The bosses pay themselves huge bonuses, award themselves all sorts of share dividends, and take home a really healthy pay, and record profits, record shareholder dividends as well, and they’re not willing to reward the people that make these profits for them.”

The senior union official for Scotland renewed claims that Simon Thompson, Royal Mail CEO, was negatively impacting the result of negotiations by not attending a meeting on Monday.

The company says that Mr Thompson has been actively involved in the talks but can’t attend every meeting due to other commitments.

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Craig Anderson, regional secretary of the CWU, said: “We’re continuing the industrial action for fair pay.

“What’s actually happened is the 2% [pay rise] was imposed by the company earlier on in the year, which under the current cost-of-living-crisis is just not enough for our members.

“We have been in talks with the company, we were hopeful that there would be some sort of negotiated settlement.

“Unfortunately, there seems to be an issue where the CEO of the company, Simon Thompson, seems to be hindering [the negotiations].

“So, for us, it’s simply that we either need Simon Thompson in the room to actually sit down and have meaningful negotiations with us and settle this dispute.

“Or, Simon Thompon effectively needs to move on, leave the company, and let the people who are there work with the CWU and sort the dispute out.”

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: "On Friday, 14 October, we announced losses of £219 million in the first half of the year.

“This once again demonstrates the urgent need for Royal Mail to change.

“Further strike action would materially increase our losses for the full year and may necessitate further operational restructuring and job losses.

"Four weeks have passed since we invited the CWU to enter talks with Acas to resolve the change and pay dispute.

“We once again urge the CWU to join us in Acas talks. This is the only way to reach a resolution and secure Royal Mail's future and jobs for our people.

"We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience the CWU's continued strike action will cause.

“We are doing all we can to minimise delays and keep people, businesses and the country connected."

Watch our live coverage from Springburn: