STRIKING workers are out in force at a mail distribution centre in Great Sankey.

Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) are embroiled in a pay dispute with the Government.

CWU workers at Birchwood's BT offices have also taken industrial action this year.

Strikers took to the Royal Mail Centre on Omega Boulevard in Great Sankey en masse, with picket lines being established from early in the morning of Wednesday, November 30.

Royal Mail CWU members' strikes are also set to take place on the following dates:

  • Thursday, December 1
  • Friday, December 9
  • Sunday, December 11
  • Wednesday, December 14
  • Thursday, December 15
  • Friday, December 23
  • Saturday, December 24

The CWU says its Royal Mail workers voted overwhelmingly in favour of these strikes - with 97.6 per cent voting to take industrial action.

On its website, the union says: "The pay dispute is not complicated.

"Our members are striking for a pay rise that fully addresses the current cost of living.

"Our members need it, our members deserve it – the company can afford it."

The members of the union who work at Royal Mail have had a two per cent pay increase 'imposed' on them this year - which, when considered next to the rising inflation rate, represents a real-terms pay cut.

According to the CWU, Royal Mail has announced group profits of more than £750million, and is paying out millions to private shareholders.

CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: “We are disappointed that instead of reaching a compromise to avoid major disruption, Royal Mail has chosen to pursue such an aggressive strategy.

“We will not accept that 115,000 Royal Mail workers – the people who kept us connected during the pandemic, and made millions in profit for bosses and shareholders – take such a devastating blow to their livelihoods.

“These proposals spell the end of Royal Mail as we know it, and its degradation from a national institution into an unreliable, Uber-style gig economy company.

“Make no mistake about it: British postal workers are facing an Armageddon moment.

“We urge every member of the public to stand with their postie, and back them like never before.”