115,000 CWU members at Royal Mail have voted overwhelmingly to strike with a 97.6% vote, adding to the growing number of strikes and ballots across the country, writes Shabbir Lakha

In response to a real-terms pay cut, Royal Mail workers at 1,500 workplaces around the country have voted overwhelmingly to strike. The CWU ballot had a 77% turnout and a 97.6% yes vote, making it the biggest strike mandate since the 2016 Trade Union Act was brought in.

The Royal Mail workers are the latest to back a national strike following rail workers with RMT, Aslef and TSSA, FE College workers with UCU and BT Openreach workers also with the CWU. The growing mood for industrial action shows how fed up workers are with deteriorating wages, rapidly rising cost of living, and blatantly widening inequality.

The CWU pointed out that Royal Mail posted profits of £758m and paid shareholders £400m while imposing a 2% pay increase (read 10% pay cut).

CWU General Secretary Dave Ward said,

“Our message to Royal Mail is clear: not a single postal worker in this country will budge until you get serious & give them a dignified, proper pay rise.”

“Postal workers won’t accept their living standards being hammered by bosses who are typical of business leaders today: overpaid, underqualified, out of their depth.”

If Royal Mail doesn’t budge – and the CWU should insist on nothing less than an inflation-plus budge – then postal workers will join the hot strike summer in August.