CWU says Royal Mail losing about 400 postal workers a week since DM26 rollout

Centre · 1The Communication Workers Union (CWU) says about 400 postal workers a week are leaving Royal Mail, up from about 330 a week before the company introduced its new delivery system, DM26, earlier this year. 1 Mixed · 2DM26 reorganised routes by putting workers into groups of three and changing the walking pattern of rounds. It allows second class post to be delivered only every other weekday, while first class mail and parcels are meant to be delivered every day. 1 2 Centre · 1The union says the system is working in about 500 offices but has run into significant problems in hundreds of others. It has told members to pause further rollout until a plan is agreed with Royal Mail. The BBC reports DM26 has been introduced in about 1,000 of Royal Mail's 1,200 delivery offices. 1

Centre · 1The CWU said most leavers were believed to be new part-time starters, but that more staff on legacy contracts were also leaving. 1 Mixed · 2Anonymous postal workers who spoke to the BBC say parcels are still prioritised over letters and time is wasted sorting mail into first and second class. A West Midlands worker said they took out no first class mail on one shift. Eight workers who tracked their steps reported increases of a quarter to a third, often to around 25,000 a day. Several fear a 'nightmare' Christmas. 1 2 Centre · 1Bryn Dymott, who delivered in Wootton, Bedfordshire for nine years, left in July. He said he could not face another 'shambolic' Christmas and that it is impossible to have four people's work done by three. 1

Mixed · 2CWU general secretary Dave Ward called for a summit between stakeholders and the government on what he called a 'ticking timebomb'. He said the company was 'on the brink of collapse' unless it faces up to a 'self-inflicted recruitment and retention crisis', and criticised Ofcom for favouring competition. Martin Walsh of the CWU said adding more passengers to a boat already taking on water is unlikely to help. 2 1 Mixed · 2Royal Mail says the rollout is 90% complete and it now delivers to 95% of addresses a day, up from 88% before. It expects service quality to improve as deployment continues and says the reforms support a more 'efficient and financially sustainable' service. It says the system will be in all offices by Christmas and it is hiring 22,000 temporary Christmas workers. 1 2 Mixed · 2Last week Royal Mail announced plans to cut up to 2,500 jobs by the end of 2027. It says the cuts are in head office and support functions, with no reductions in frontline delivery and processing roles. 2 1

Mixed · 2Ofcom has fined Royal Mail more than £37m in three years for missing delivery targets. A group of MPs, which the Mirror puts at over 100, was due to meet the regulator on Wednesday to press for better letter service. Ofcom said it will keep using its powers to hold Royal Mail to account. Postal Services Minister Kate Dearden called Royal Mail's improvement plan 'a step in the right direction' that 'must deliver tangible improvements'. 1 2 Left · 1Owner Daniel Kretinsky apologised to MPs in March for late letters but said the service was 'not perfect, but it is not catastrophic'. 2