Royal Mail losing 400 postal workers a week, says union

Royal Mail staff claim new delivery system is causing issues

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According to the Communication Workers Union (CWU), Royal Mail is losing approximately 400 postal workers per week. This number has allegedly increased since the company introduced a new delivery system, DM26, earlier this year.

The CWU claims that before the introduction of DM26, Royal Mail was losing around 330 postal staff per week from a workforce of 83,000. The union states that the new system is not working in hundreds of offices.

Royal Mail staff have spoken to BBC Your Voice anonymously, warning of a "nightmare" Christmas ahead due to the increasing number of parcels and the new delivery system. They claim that parcels are still being prioritized, letters are being left behind, and time is being wasted in sorting and dividing mail into first and second class.

A Royal Mail spokesperson stated that the company works to ensure all mail, including letters and parcels, is delivered on time. However, data suggests that only three-quarters of first class mail is being delivered on time.

The new delivery system has also increased the workload of postal workers, with some reporting a quarter or even a third increase in their average step counts, often up to around 25,000 steps a day.