Royal Mail staff to stage 48-hour strikes around Black Friday

Staff at Royal Mail will walk off the job for 48 hours either side of Black Friday amid an ongoing spat over pay, jobs and working conditions.

The Communication Workers' Union will tell its roughly 115,000 members to reject an offer to hike pay by approximately 9% over two years, calling Royal Mail's offer "derisory"

However, while members will strike on 24 and 25 November and 30 November and 1 December, just two days after one of the UK's busiest online shopping days, the union called to abandon two strikes planned for 12 and 14 November, citing a desire to take more "proportionate" action.

Royal Mail said: "Royal Mail proposed a new pay-for-change offer to the CWU worth 9% over two years, despite making a loss of £219.0m in the first half of the year.

"The CWU is playing a dangerous game with its members' jobs and the future of Royal Mail. We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience the CWU's continued strike action will cause. We are doing all we can to minimise delays and keep people, businesses and the country connected.".

As of 1020 GMT, Royal Mail shares were down 1.83% at 203.30p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com