Royal Mail Loses 400 Postal Workers a Week, Union Says

About 400 postal workers are leaving Royal Mail every week, according to the Communication Workers Union, which says the rate has climbed since the company rolled out a new delivery system earlier this year, BBC News reports.

How many workers is Royal Mail losing each week?

The CWU told the BBC that Royal Mail had been losing roughly 330 postal staff a week from a workforce of 83,000 before the new system, known as DM26, was introduced. The union says that figure has since risen to about 400 departures a week. Royal Mail has not published its own weekly attrition figures in the reporting.

What is DM26 and why did Royal Mail introduce it?

DM26 reorganizes delivery routes and is intended to improve delivery performance, according to the BBC. Under the system, second-class post is delivered only every other weekday, while first-class mail and parcels are supposed to be delivered daily. Workers are grouped into teams of three, and the walking pattern of rounds has changed. Royal Mail says the reforms are part of a plan to deliver a more "efficient and financially sustainable" service, a spokesperson told the BBC.

Why does the union say the new system isn't working?

The CWU says DM26 is failing in hundreds of offices. Postal workers who spoke to BBC Your Voice anonymously said parcels are still being prioritized over letters, that mail is being left behind, and that time is lost sorting and dividing post into first- and second-class categories. One worker in the West Midlands told the BBC: "I didn't take any first class mail out on my last shift because I was on a road that's been behind for weeks … but I'm sure a manager would have ticked a box to say all first class mail went out."

How is the change affecting workers' daily routes?

Eight postal workers tracked their average step counts for the BBC and found their daily totals had increased by a quarter to a third since the switchover, often reaching around 25,000 steps a day. Several workers told the BBC they expect this Christmas to be difficult. One postman in the East Midlands said, "We all think this Christmas will be the worst ever, for us and our customers." Bryn Dymott, who delivered post in Wootton, Bedfordshire, for nine years, left the company in July. He told the BBC he could not face another "shambolic" Christmas and said Royal Mail is "proving it's impossible to have four people's work done by three people."

What does Royal Mail say in response?

A Royal Mail spokesperson said the company always works to ensure all mail — both letters and parcels — is delivered on time, according to the BBC. The company has separately outlined plans to cut 2,500 jobs, reported six days before this story, and earlier BBC reporting found only three-quarters of first-class mail was delivered on time as of late May.

What happens next for Royal Mail's delivery system?

The BBC's reporting draws on conversations with more than 30 postal staff across the UK's four nations over the past year as they transitioned to DM26. The union and company dispute whether the system is working as intended, and neither side has set a date for a formal review of the rollout, based on the reporting available.

Artiglio is A coming-soon iPhone chief of staff for briefings and drafts. Not on the App Store yet.