2007 Royal Mail industrial disputes

The dispute centred on 'modernisation plans' which Royal Mail said were required to remain competitive, however the CWU believed that these might have led to around 40,000 job losses.

Royal Mail claimed that flexibility is vital to the business, and that it was entirely reasonable for employees normally employed in one capacity to cover other roles as required to cope with variations in the work levels in each area.

Until early October, the government maintained its stance that this was a matter for Royal Mail and the union to sort out.

However, in early October Gordon Brown called on the CWU to reach an agreement on the terms offered, a move that was condemned by the TUC.

[3] Royal Mail drafted in managers from non-operational roles to attempt to keep some mail moving through the system, and offered opportunities for those CWU members who wish to work to do so at other offices to avoid conflict with striking colleagues, but the strike still had a major impact on the operation.