Royal Mail and CWU clash over delivery model, raising fears of Christmas post disruption

A new dispute between Royal Mail and the Communications Workers Union has raised fears of disruption to Christmas post, including the direct mail and online orders that retailers rely on in the run-up to Black Friday. The union has withdrawn its support for Royal Mail’s new delivery model, citing an exodus of staff, and the company’s owner, Daniel Křetínský, is reported to be sending senior executives for emergency talks, as Decision Marketing reported.

What the Royal Mail dispute is about

The argument is over the Optimised Delivery Model, which delivers first-class letters and parcels six days a week but second-class and non-priority mail only every other weekday, with no Saturday delivery. It was trialled at 240 delivery offices and is being rolled out to 1,200, with completion due by December.

The CWU originally backed the change but now says staff retention is at an all-time low, with up to 400 postal workers leaving a week. Dave Ward, the union’s general secretary, said Royal Mail is “on the brink of collapse” because of a “self-inflicted recruitment and retention crisis”. Royal Mail says it is hiring 480 people a week, that the union’s claims “do not reflect the state of the business”, and that its Christmas preparations are on track.

Why it matters to marketers

Direct mail is one of the few channels still growing in attention and response, and its peak is the next eight weeks. A dispute on top of the new delivery pattern adds risk to every catalogue, voucher and Christmas mailing in the plan, and to the parcels behind online sales. Christmas campaigns are already landing, with Debenhams launching its advert at the weekend. It comes a fortnight after Royal Mail was forced by Ofcom to scale back its business mail price rises, which still take effect on 7 December.

No strike ballot has been announced, so this is a warning rather than a walkout. But for brands deciding between a mailing and another week of digital spend, the uncertainty alone is a reason to send early.