The Independent/London
Postal workers could block the delivery of half the nation’s mail in an escalating dispute over the first challenge to the Royal Mail’s historic monopoly on home delivery, union leaders warned last night.
In response to private delivery workers on the streets for the first time, the Communication Workers’ Union announced it would ballot its 120,000 Royal Mail members in the New Year over whether they should stop handling all private mail.
If the boycott is approved, it would affect all of the £1.4bn-a-year worth of mail passing through Royal Mail – amounting to 44 per cent of all letters in the UK, and three-quarters of all bulk mail.
Royal Mail is legally obliged to operate a universal, six-day-a-week delivery postal service, and rivals have traditionally handed the mail they have collected and sorted to the state-owned operator for the “final mile” delivery to homes.
However under a licence granted by Ofcom, TNT has been delivering mail to homes in the London postcodes of W1-16 and SW1 since April. The CWU yesterday called for Ofcom to halt the experiment, saying it would lead to a further decline in the Royal Mail’s finances and its members’ pay and conditions.