Are there cracks in the UK postal strike?
Only 24 hours ago the Communication Workers Union was suggesting a significant increase in the number of strikes between now and Christmas if an agreement could not be reached with the Royal Mail management. However, today the union leaders have expressed a wish to find a resolution to the problem in the short term and thus avoid potentially disastrous strike action between now and Christmas. So what has changed?
There is a feeling in some areas that with more and more Royal Mail customers looking elsewhere the unions have effectively had their power reduced. The more customers who sample private mail operators in the short term, ultimately because of the strikes, the more chance that Royal Mail will, slowly but surely, see a reduction in its power and transaction levels in the UK. Some of the union leaders may well feel aggrieved but they appear to have blinked first in this battle of confidence and now await a response from the Royal Mail.
Even if the Royal Mail directors believe they now have the unions over a barrel there is still a need to give way on some of the proposed changes to the structure and size of the operation in the medium to longer term. Make no mistake both sides still have a lot to lose!
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