UK's Royal Mail to cut 6,000 jobs by next August

By Karim El-Bar

LONDON (AA) - Britain’s Royal Mail announced on Friday it could cut up to 6,000 jobs by the end of August 2023 as it continues to lock horns with trade unions.

In a statement, Royal Mail’s parent group International Distribution Services announced it will post an adjusted operating loss of £350 million ($395 million) this year, due to a number of factors that include a series of strikes that have and will take place.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) represents around 115,000 Royal Mail workers. They have carried out strikes over pay and conditions in September and October, with more scheduled later this month and in November.

The statement said: "We will be starting the process of consulting on rightsizing the business in response to the impact of industrial action, delays in delivering agreed productivity improvements and lower parcel volumes.”

Royal Mail will cut 10,000 full-time roles by next August, which will involve 6,000 redundancies by that time.

Royal Mail chief executive Simon Thompson said: “This is a very sad day. I regret that we are announcing these job losses.

“We will do all we can to avoid compulsory redundancies and support everyone affected.

“We have announced today losses of £219 million in the first half of the year. Each strike day weakens our financial situation.

“The CWU’s decision to choose damaging strike action over resolution regrettably increases the risk of further headcount reductions.”