Note: Royal Mail are seeking an injunction to stop the dispute and this will be heard in the High Court on Tuesday 12 November.
A postal worker in South Yorkshire spoke to Solidarity about the Communication Workers’ Union dispute with Royal Mail:
“We are all just waiting for the announcement of strike dates. We’re all excited about the prospect of going on strike. The expectation is that this will be a prolonged dispute. We’re discussing a potential programme of ongoing strikes in the run-up to Christmas.
“Striking on Black Friday, 29 November, is being discussed. This is also the date of the next school students’ climate strike; this connection isn’t really on the union’s radar at the moment, so this is a link that needs to be made by rank-and-file activists.
“At the moment people are looking to the union’s executive to call the shots, in consultation with our reps. Hopefully though more direct forms of democratic control over the dispute will emerge.
“The gate meetings that took place as part of the ballot campaign are a good model. They allow workers to get together in large numbers at the workplace and discuss issues collectively. We should look to continue those types of meetings to discuss and decide the direction of the dispute.
“There is a widespread understanding that many of the problems we face stem from privatisation. Everyone wants Royal Mail renationalised, so people connect with Labour’s policy on that issue and want to get a Labour government elected in December.”
