Photo: Cristiano Betta / Flickr / CC BY 2.0

Last Mile Brief 29/03/2023: Royal Mail’s industrial dispute escalates amid reported administration threat

In today's Last Mile Brief, we bring you the latest on the Royal Mail labour dispute saga, plus a plethora of stories concerning DHL, Amazon, Deliveroo, Australia Post, Quadient, FedEx, Uber Eats and more.

You can read this article in 3 minutes


Your Last Mile Brief is brought to you by:


Today’s headline story: Royal Mail’s industrial dispute escalates amid reported administration threat

The labour dispute between the CWU Union and the Royal Mail could even escalate to the point that the postal operator opts to put part of it business into administration – according to reports in both the Guardian and the Daily Telegraph.

The Daily Telegraph writes that the Royal Mail “has warned that it could place the regulated part of the business – which has a legal duty to deliver post to every address in the country – into a special form of insolvency if a compromise deal cannot be reached.”

The Guardian also understands this to be the case, and adds that the move is regarded by the board as a last resort.
The plan would see the UK Government appoint administrators to take responsibility for the regulated part of the business, likely resulting in job losses.
The threat is reported to be a response to the CWU’s expected plans for more strike action over Easter.
In a statement quoted by multiple UK media outlets, a CWU spokesperson said:
“The company as a whole now has a decision to make – do they reach an agreement with the union or do they continue their relentless and daily assault on postal workers in workplaces across the UK?”
Meanwhile, the Royal Mail has highlighted the difficulty of its financial situation and insisted that reform of its practices is essential if the company is to survive.

To receive a summary of all the big parcel delivery and last mile stories every weekday, subscribe to our newsletter.

Alternatively, you see our daily compiled news summaries by region here: Europe / North America / Rest of the World


Your Last Mile Brief is co-produced by:

 

  & 


Photo: Cristiano Betta / Flickr / CC BY 2.0