Royal Mail Strike Action

Posted on the 13th December 2022 -  We recommend customers check the Royal Mail website for up to date information. 

For the past 7 years Zombie Vapes has worked with Royal Mail as our courier. Whilst the strikes continue we have for now switched to DPD to try our best to get our customers their parcels in a timely manner. Due to the Royal Mail strikes all couriers including DPD, Yodel, Evri, UPS and others are seeing an increased demand in their services. Unfortunately this is also causing delays in parcels reaching customers. 

We are expecting normal service to resume after the busy festive service. For now we cannot guarantee next day delivery. For more information on the Royal Mail strikes please read below.

National strike action dates formally notified by the CWU

The CWU has formally notified Royal Mail they plan to call on their members who collect, sort and deliver parcels and letters to take national strike action on Wednesday 14 December, Thursday 15 December, Friday December 23 and Christmas Eve.

Royal Mail has well-developed contingency plans, but they cannot fully replace the daily efforts of their frontline workforce. Royal Mail be doing what they can to keep services running, but are sorry this planned strike action is likely to cause you some disruption.

ACAS facilitation - Royal Mail and CWU

Royal Mail and CWU have agreed to jointly engaged with ACAS facilitation in an attempt to resolve the current disputes on pay and change. There is a commitment on both sides to reach a resolution. An opening session took place on Tuesday 25 October and further joint sessions have taken place since. On Monday 31 October, Royal Mail proposed a new conditional pay-for-change offer to the Communication Workers Union (CWU) worth 9% for CWU-grade colleagues which includes a 7% salary increase over two years, plus a lump sum payment of 2% of pay this year. The offer is subject to agreeing a programme of change with the CWU. The CWU claim they are open to change but they now need to show it. Royal Mail are urging CWU leadership to accept the change and pay offer, call off future damaging strike action, for the good of their customers and people. Royal Mail apologises to customers for the inconvenience the CWU's continued strike action will cause. They are doing all they can to minimise delays and keep people, businesses and the country connected.

On days when national strike action is taking place:

Royal Mail will deliver as many Special Delivery and Tracked 24 parcels as possible
Royal Mail will prioritise the delivery of COVID test kits and medical prescriptions wherever possible
Royal Mail will not be delivering letters (with the exception of Special Delivery)
What you can do:

Post your items as early as possible in advance of the strike dates
Continue to post your items at Postboxes or Post Offices, however collections will be less frequent on days when strike action is taking place
Key information for national strikes

Priority Items on days of Industrial Action

Special Delivery Guaranteed: Royal Mail will continue to accept, prioritise and deliver as many Special Delivery items as their resources allow during strike action. However, they cannot guarantee delivery of all items by 9am or 1pm next day. Royal Mail will therefore suspend the next day guarantee for items sent the day before, during strike action and until services are back to normal. Customers will not be able to claim compensation for items which are delayed during this period.



Tracked 24 (including COVID test kits and medical prescription items): Tracked 24 items will be treated as a priority for delivery on days when strike action is taking place. However, significantly reduced resources mean there will be a delay to some Tracked 24 items posted the day before, on the day of and in the days immediately after strike action.

Delays

Items posted the day before, during or in the days after any strike action will be subject to delay. Royal Mail will provide further details of the expected delays to items during the period of industrial action.

Visiting Delivery Offices and Customer Service Points

Delivery Offices and Customer Service Points will be closed on days when strike action is taking place. Please do not try to collect from or drop off items on these dates. They will reopen the day after strike action has finished.

Post Offices

Post Offices will be open and offering the usual range of services on days when strike action is taking place. On all days of Royal Mail strike action, collections by Royal Mail from Post Offices will be limited. Customers should expect delays to items sent on strike days and on the days immediately after strike action.

Postboxes

You can continue to use postboxes throughout industrial action. Please bear in mind collections from post boxes will be limited on day/s of industrial action and delay to items should be expected.

Getting services back to normal after strike action

Royal Mail want to get your services back to normal as quickly as possible after any strike action. After industrial action takes place, they'll be increasing network capacity and using additional resources to assist with getting services back to normal.

Collections from business customers, Post Offices and post boxes will resume the day after strike action finishes.

Deliveries will also resume the day after strike action finishes. This will include accelerating the delivery of NHS and healthcare letters and critical Government mailings in the days following strike action.