Postal workers at Royal Mail have started a new 48-hour straight strike over pay and working conditions.
It is the latest in a series of strikes involving 115,000 postal workers and will affect the delivery of letters and parcels across the UK.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents workers, says its members want a pay rise to match the rising cost of living.
Royal Mail said it had presented a revised offer but “no talks are taking place”.
Postal workers went on strike on Thursday and Friday last week and another wave of strikes is planned in the run up to Christmas – on December 9th, 11th, 14th, 15th, 23rd and 24th.
Clara Challoner Walker, who runs Cozy Cottage Soap Company in Malton, Yorkshire, said the strikes were having a “significant impact” on her business.
She uses Royal Mail because it’s too expensive to send her relatively small soap and skincare orders by courier.
However, she says strikes could delay deliveries and hurt the business during the “critical” Christmas trading period when it is making most of its profits.
“We feel sympathy for them [Royal Mail workers]’ she told the BBC. “But I would ask bosses and union bosses whether strikes at this time of year, which will have such a significant impact on small businesses, are getting what they want. “
On strike days, Royal Mail cannot deliver first and second class letters. However, as many parcels and letters will be delivered as Special Delivery as possible, giving priority to medical prescriptions where possible.
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The row began this summer after Royal Mail rejected calls for a pay rise to match the rising cost of living.
Inflation – the rate at which prices are rising – is currently at 11.1%, the highest in 41 years, as food and energy costs rise.
The union also opposes proposed changes to working conditions, such as the elimination of a number of bonuses and the introduction of compulsory Sunday work.
The Post has since offered a pay deal that it says is worth up to 9% over 18 months, calling it its “best and last deal”.
However, CWU Secretary General Dave Ward said the offer represented a “devastating blow” to postal workers’ livelihoods and urged the public to “stand by their postal worker”.
“Royal Mail bosses are risking a Christmas crisis by stubbornly refusing to treat their staff with respect,” he said on Tuesday.
In a statement, he added that postal workers wanted to “get on with serving the communities they belong to” and address the backlog of gifts and Christmas cards that has been building up in recent weeks.
Sam Smith runs the Pot Gang, which sells grow-your-own vegetable and herb boxes online. The company uses Royal Mail to send hundreds of orders to customers every day, but it said it used more expensive courier companies on strike days to avoid delivery delays.
“The general public is generally not too lenient when it comes to deliveries,” he told the BBC. “This gives us a bit of a headache when it comes to customer service.”
Mr Smith said he sympathizes with the striking workers but “at the end of the day Royal Mail is a business and has to deal with businesses”.
The risk for the postal service, he added, is that companies like his would stop using Royal Mail.
“We need to know that things will arrive reliably and on time at a fair price [this Christmas],” he added.
Royal Mail is struggling as it transitions from its traditional letter delivery business – which is no longer profitable – to the fast-growing world of parcel delivery.
The company, which faces stiff competition from courier companies, says it is losing around a million pounds a day and cannot afford to give its workers a higher pay rise.
It said the strikes added £100m to its losses and announced plans to shed up to 10,000 jobs.
Not only has the company improved its offer for employees, but it has also promised more generous termination conditions and profit-sharing.
Earlier this month she asked the government to stop letter deliveries on Saturdays after reporting a loss for the first half of the year.
It wants to switch from a six-day letter delivery to five, Monday to Friday only. However, the parcel services would continue to run every day of the week.
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