POSTAL workers in Liskeard joined their colleagues around the country in a fresh round of industrial action.

The second day of the planned 48-hour walkout was called off on Thursday evening following news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU), of which the large majority of workers in South East Cornwall are part, has balloted its members twice: the first dispute being over pay, and the second being over major change planned within Royal Mail.

The CWU says that a 2% pay rise proposed equates to a pay cut in real terms, and says that it is wholly insufficient, given record profits for Royal Mail of £753million this last year, and in the light of large shareholder dividends and “eye-watering” pay for top bosses.

CWU branch representative for Plymouth and East Cornwall Ralph Ferrett said: “The CWU  appreciates that industrial action has inconvenienced our customers. We hope people will understand that we are fighting to defend a postal service that serves small businesses, rural communities and members of the public in Cornwall.”

Pay rises for postal workers have up until now been linked to inflation, as Mr Ferrett explains during an in-depth interview with Looe broadcast journalist Mike Allsopp.

“As a responsible, grown-up union, we recognise that inflation at a level of a forecast 18% by December is going to pose a challenge to any business,” said the CWU rep.

“But our members feel that against the backdrop of the biggest profits the company has ever made, on the basis of work done by members, we should have the right to expect a decent pay rise.”

Royal Mail has made it clear that any increase in pay beyond 2% must be contingent on accepting changes which it has deemed necessary to the survival of the business.

In a statement issued prior to the news of the death of Queen Elizabeth, a spokesperson for the company said: “Royal Mail is losing £1 million a day and strike action has weakened our financial position. Further strikes will make it weaker still. Without meaningful engagement on the change that is needed from the CWU, the position of the company will worsen and put jobs at risk.

“We are greatly concerned that the CWU are simply not interested in discussing the change needed to modernise this business.

They added: “We remain ready to talk with the CWU to try and avert damaging industrial action and prevent further inconvenience for customers, but any talks must be about both change and pay. Change is the route to higher pay.”

Ralph Ferrett says that the union is realistic about the need to adapt and change. The crux of the matter, he says, is a disagreement on how to manage the transition to parcel delivery, and the decline in letter post, which while ever-shrinking, is still worth some £6bn per year, and is a legal obligation.

The union and the business agree that taking on a growing parcel industry is vital, says Mr Ferrett, but according to the union rep, Royal Mail’s plans to restructure the way mail is processed, with three super-processing hubs and the cutting out of part of the intermediate network, will lead to a “complete upending of workers’ family lives”. He says it will also lead to a reduction in the service provided to the public: he’s described it as a “race to the bottom to process mail as cheaply as possible”.

These planned changes have led to what he describes as a very difficult impasse between the union and Royal Mail, as both are likely to stand on opposite sides of the same red line: this is the changing of arrival times of post to local delivery offices, currently around 6am, to 10am, making the working day extend much later into the afternoon for staff.

The dispute looks set to remain entrenched and further strike action is planned for September 30 and October 1. Ralph Ferrett says he sincerely hopes that there will be a breakthrough in talks by then but adds that Royal Mail has done something new in this current dispute in that they have “come to the table to present the union with what is going to happen, rather than discuss”.

“If we get to a situation whereby change to our workplace is no longer on the basis of negotiated solutions but where the business says jump and we say how high, all of our lives will get worse.”