Shipping News: Post Office Strike to Cause Disruption to Christmas Post

A strike is planned to take place on Saturday 3rd December by over 300 managers within Crown Post Offices.

The Post Office managers are joining a 24-hour walkout held by the Communication Workers Union following a dispute over jobs, franchising of Crown Post Offices and closure of a final pension scheme.

Earlier in 2016, the Post Office announced plans to transfer up to 61 branches to WHSmith stores as part of a 10-year plan to cut costs and safeguard the future of the network. The Communication Workers Union said this caused up to 2000 job losses and the closure of its final pension scheme.

A representative from the Post Office said "We are extremely sorry that the unions are attempting to disrupt services for people sending parcels and cards to loved ones in the run-up to Christmas.”

The strike is expected to impact up to 300 branches within the UK. If this makes you uneasy about sending your Christmas packages domestically or further afield, we offer an alternative to using the traditional postal network.

With Royal Mail already being extremely expensive for larger packages and the Post Office not being much fun in December, every year we see more customers using Send My Bag for Christmas and care packages.

With prices starting at £15 for 20kgs within the UK, £25 for 20kgs within Europe and a brand new 5kg rate on all international express routes (many next day) starting at £35 (vs The Post Office's £73 for 5kgs to USA*), we can certainly see why!

*Parcel Force; £73, 5kgs, 5-9 day shipping time. Price retrieved from http://www.royalmail.com/price-finder on 30/11/2016