West Dunbartonshire’s MP Martin Docherty-Hughes has called on the Royal Mail to stop the threats of job cuts to valued postal workers and ‘engage meaningfully’ with the Communications Worker Union to find an acceptable solution to prevent further postal strikes.
In a joint letter to the Chief Executive Officer of Royal Mail, local MP Docherty-Hughes told the Royal Mail Chief that it’s “unacceptable to see the language employed by Royal Mail in threatening its workforce with job losses because they dare to ask for a fair work package.”
Postal workers in West Dunbartonshire and across the UK have been on strike again this week, with several more strike days planned early next month, from the 2nd of November to the 4th of November.
Last week, the Royal Mail announced its intention to slash 10,000 jobs, citing the strike action and low parcel delivery sales as the reason. Local SNP MP Martin has called this move a ‘tactic in the ongoing pay dispute with postal workers’ and has accused Royal Mail of ‘acting in bad faith’.
Commenting, Martin Docherty-Hughes MP said:
“Postal workers across West Dunbartonshire are struggling to make ends meet in the face of the cost-of-living crisis while Royal Mail shareholders benefited from bumper profits in the millions.
“It is understandable that postal workers find the argument that there isn’t money for them to have a fair wage unpalatable when there are millions of pounds of profit for shareholders, who should share the burden – when hard working postal staff are struggling to put food on their table this winter.
“Royal Mail staff and their families across Clydebank, Dumbarton and the Vale need financial security. The decision to strike will not have been easy for any of them, but this is about more than pay; it is also about protecting the universal mail service we all expect and value.
“Royal Mail need to get back to the negotiating table – in a meaningful way – and put our communities at the heart of discussions.”
A copy of the joint letter from SNP MPs to the Chief Executive of Royal Mail PLC is available here.
