Royal Mail says it is ready for Christmas despite union claims of 400 weekly staff losses
Royal Mail says it is prepared for Christmas, while the Communication Workers Union claims the company is losing 400 staff a week and warns deliveries could suffer.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Royal Mail says it is ready to deliver letters and parcels over the busy Christmas period, despite union claims that the company is losing 400 staff a week. The Communication Workers Union says postal staff are unhappy with the introduction of a new delivery system. It has warned that Christmas could be a nightmare for deliveries.
A postal worker, Brienne, who is leaving the company, said the problem was not individual posties but a business drive to squeeze out costs, reduce headcount and handle more to deliver. The CWU claims 400 staff are leaving the business every week.
Royal Mail rejects the suggestion that it cannot cope. It says it is recruiting 22,000 seasonal workers, opening five additional processing or sort centres in the coming three or four weeks, and increasing its vehicle fleet by about 7,500 vehicles for peak. The company says its performance is improving. About 85% of first-class letters are now delivered on time, up from 76% last year, but still below Ofcom's target of 90%. Just over 91% of second-class mail is delivered on time, up from 89% last year, but below the regulator's target of 95%.
Royal Mail is rolling out a new system called DM26. It is meant to guarantee that first-class mail and parcels are delivered every day, while second-class post is delivered every other weekday. Managers say the changes are working in the vast majority of units and delivering the results expected, though they accept some units are not yet performing to the required standards. The union says the changes are increasing workloads.
Royal Mail has been fined 37 million pounds in recent years for missing targets. It insists its reforms will lead to a more efficient, sustainable and reliable service.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| Royal Mail stated it was ready for Christmas despite CWU claims that 400 staff were leaving weekly and deliveries could be disrupted. | |
| Royal Mail was recruiting 22,000 seasonal workers to help manage its workload. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The bulletin led on Royal Mail's Christmas preparations and set the company's assurances against the CWU's claim of 400 weekly staff losses. It gave space to the union's warning, a departing postie's criticism, Royal Mail's seasonal recruitment and peak capacity plans, and the company's own performance figures. It also covered management claims that the DM26 overhaul is working and noted past fines for missed targets.
- “Royal Mail says it's ready to successfully deliver letters and parcels over the busy Christmas period Despite claims that the company was losing 400 staff a week”
- “The Communication Workers Union says that staff are unhappy with the introduction of a new delivery system”
- “Royal Mail has been fined 37 million pounds in recent years for missing targets”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.