Workers at the 500-year-old postal service are planning further action on Wednesday next week and September 8 and 9 in a dispute over pay and working practices. Royal Mail workers across Great Britain demonstrated in queues in Dunfermline, Hull and Preston, among others. In east London, striking employees called on Royal Mail chief executive Simon Thompson to resign. They chanted: “Thompson out” to the beat of drums on the picket line and sang: “Simon Thompson, you’re not fit to be CEO”. Other collective cries included: “What do we want? Thompson is out. When do we want it? Now.” Royal Mail, which employs 140,000 staff, including managers, has offered workers a 2% pay rise from April and further benefits equivalent to a 3.5% rise if they agree to changes to working practices. Thompson said this deal would cost the company £230m and the business was losing £1m a day. The CWU argues that staff should receive an inflation-adjusted pay rise in recognition of their work during the coronavirus pandemic. A survey of 2,005 adults by the CWU, seen by the Guardian, found that 63% of respondents believed Royal Mail should be a public sector company. Dave Ward, the union’s general secretary, said: “The British people are fed up with their country being deprived of wealth by the rich. It’s time to bring the postal service back into public ownership.” The strike is the first since Royal Mail was privatized in 2013. The study also found that 72% believed that company executives should have their salaries capped at 10 times the average worker’s salary. “Right now in this country, corporate failure is rewarded over and over again, with no consequences for the poor performance of the services people rely on,” Ward said. Royal Mail said that, during the strike, 379 of its 1,200 delivery offices were processing mail and were staffed by around 4,000 managers and “supported by contract carriers”. He said their priority was “the delivery of essential items”, including prescription drugs, Covid test kits and special delivery packages. A Royal Mail spokesman said: “Our emergency plans to minimize disruption and keep people, businesses and the country connected are in place.” Subscribe to the Business Today daily email or follow Guardian Business on Twitter @BusinessDesk About 6,000 temporary workers will “assist in our turnaround plans” after Friday’s strike, the company said. Royal Mail executives have threatened to break up the company if workers do not agree to its proposals. “Without modernisation, we’re dying,” non-executive chairman Keith Williams told the Guardian. Thompson apologized to customers for a “service disruption” during the workers’ strike, but said the change was necessary for the company. A new twist in the corporate drama unfolded on Thursday when it was revealed that Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský hopes to increase his company’s stake in Royal Mail from 22% to 25%. The government is reviewing the move.
