THE biggest strike so far of Britain’s “summer of discontent” is set to disrupt mail delivery nationwide this weekend, as tens of thousands of workers demand a “dignified, proper pay rise.”

About 115,000 Royal Mail employees, represented by the Communication Workers Union (CWU), will hold the first of four days of walkouts today as they fight below-inflation wage increases.

The privatised company’s workers, who are also due to strike next Wednesday and on September 8-9, will be joined by about 3,500 CWU members at the Post Office, as they continue their struggle against declining take-home pay amid soaring inflation.

Staff across the state-owned firm are due to withdraw their labour today, while those who work in crown offices – larger branches often sited on high streets – will walk out again tomorrow.

The latest round of action in the dispute, which saw three days of walkouts earlier this year, will conclude with industrial action by supply chain and admin workers on Tuesday.

CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: “We will see a tremendous outpouring of workers’ unity in villages, towns and cities across the country.

“There can be no doubt that workers are completely united in their determination to secure the dignified, proper pay rise they deserve.

“We can’t keep on living in a country where bosses rake in billions in profit while their employees are forced to use food banks.”

CWU deputy general secretary Terry Pullinger stressed his members “know full well what they are worth after working miracles” during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Our members deserve a pay rise that rewards their fantastic achievements in keeping the country connected, but also helps them keep up during this current economic crisis.”

A Royal Mail spokesperson said the “disappointed” company had offered an improved pay boost of 5.5 per cent, but CWU categorically rejected the claim, saying bosses had imposed a 2 per cent rise without consultation. 

Mr Ward insisted that he would not accept “pleas of poverty” from the firm after it paid out more than £400 million to shareholders following profits of £758m.

“Postal workers won’t meekly accept their living standards being hammered by greedy business leaders who are completely out of touch with modern Britain,” he said.

The separate Post Office dispute, which began with a 24-hour walkout in May and continued with two more in June, comes after workers were offered a wage freeze for 2021-22 and a below-inflation offer for this financial year.

The proposal, which now stands at 5 per cent plus £500 cash, falls well below July’s retail price index inflation rate of 12.3 per cent, noted the CWU, which has rejected it.

A company spokesperson previously said it had contingency measures in place to minimise disruption but said its “preference remains an accord” with the union.

The end of the latest Post Office strike on Tuesday also coincides with the start of a two-day walk out by about 40,000 BT call centre staff and Openreach engineers, who first downed tools on July 29 and August 1.

The workers, also members of same union, said they had no choice but to act after the privatised firm – which last faced industrial action in the 1980s – failed to consult on April’s imposed below-inflation wage increase of £1,500. 

The BT Group, which previously claimed 2022’s pay award was its highest in more than 20 years, said that it will “work to minimise any disruption and keep the country connected.”

Thousands of rail staff, dockers, criminal barristers and exam board workers have withdrawn their labour this summer, as the backlash against years of declining real-terms pay and attacks on working conditions gathers pace.