Royal Mail shake-up could see post deliveries delayed until 5pm across UK

Thousands of households across Britain may not receive their post until after 5pm under new changes proposed by Royal Mail.

The postal company says it wants to push back deliveries and redesign its network to keep up with rival firms, as people are ordering parcels later at night.

It says that having workers start later will allow sorting offices to process ‘next day’ deliveries on time.

Which areas could receive their post after 5pm?

If the proposed changes go ahead it will mean that more than 100 areas of Britain won’t receive their post until 5pm or later, according to The Telegraph.

Of these 100 areas, 17 areas may not get their post until 6pm at the earliest. This inlcudes parts of London, Cornwall, Cumbria, Wales and Scotland.

Meanwhile, people living in Kinross, near Perth, may not be handed their parcels until 7.30pm.

A Royal Mail spokesman confirmed to The Telegraph that the figures were based on “high level” assumptions and no final decisions had been made.

The spokesman added that the service will also aim to deliver all letters by 5pm at the latest, rather than the current 4pm.

Will there be any more strikes? 

In Scotland, all Royal Mail deliveries and collections will be “shut down” during four days of strike action.

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

More than 115,000 postal workers will walk out in the coming weeks in what the CWU says will be the biggest strike of the summer so far to demand a “dignified, proper pay rise”.

The decision follows a recent ballot for strike action, which saw members vote by 97.6% on a 77% turnout to take action.

CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: “Nobody takes the decision to strike lightly, but postal workers are being pushed to the brink.

“There can be no doubt that postal workers are completely united in their determination to secure the dignified, proper pay rise they deserve.

“We can’t keep on living in a country where bosses rake in billions in profit while their employees are forced to use food banks.

“When Royal Mail bosses are raking in £758 million in profit and shareholders pocketing £400 million, our members won’t accept pleads of poverty from the company.

“Postal workers won’t meekly accept their living standards being hammered by greedy business leaders who are completely out of touch with modern Britain. They are sick of corporate failure getting rewarded again and again.

“The CWU’s message to Royal Mail’s leadership is simple – there will be serious disruption until you get real on pay.”

Royal Mail said that, following the conclusion of negotiations with the CWU, it has given an unconditional 2% pay increase, backdated to April 1 2022. A further 3.5% increase is available, subject to agreeing on a series of changes.

The company said: “The CWU rejected this offer, worth up to 5.5%, which would add around £230 million to Royal Mail annual people costs at a time when the business is already loss-making.

“In the Q1 trading update published on 20 July, Royal Mail announced it was losing £1 million a day and the proposed pay deal adds more than £0.5 million a day to that figure. This can only be paid for with meaningful business change.”

“If the announced strike action takes place, it is expected that Royal Mail in the UK would be materially loss-making in FY2022-23.”

The CWU said the 2% rise had been imposed without agreement and the extra money on offer is based on changes to terms and conditions or meeting targets. The union added that the pay increase was well below the soaring rate of inflation.

Ricky McAulay, operations director at Royal Mail, added: “After more than three months of talks, the CWU has failed to engage in any meaningful discussion on the changes we need to modernise, or to come up with alternative ideas.

“The CWU rejected our offer worth up to 5.5% for CWU grade colleagues, the biggest increase we have offered for many years.

“In a business that is currently losing £1 million pounds a day, we can only fund this offer by agreeing the changes that will pay for it.

“Royal Mail can have a bright future, but we can’t achieve that by living in the past.