TUC - Royal Mail bosses “must answer” for “chaos” in postal service

The TUC has today (Tuesday) said the Royal Mail bosses must answer” for the “chaos” in the postal service in a Business and Trade Select Committee hearing this afternoon. 

Bosses at the 500-year-old institution will appear in front of MPs to explain the crisis in the service, ranging from failures to meet delivery targets and widespread service delays. 

The CWU, which represents workers at the company, will be giving key evidence regarding the service crisis in Royal Mail and the experiences of frontline postal workers. 

Crisis 

The hearing comes after a report by the committee earlier this month highlighted the “service failures” at Royal Mail, with 219 million letters arriving late and the company failing to meet quality targets.  

The report found just 74.9 per cent of first-class post was delivered on time between April 2025 and January 2026 – well below the target of 93 per cent. 

The CWU says the company is facing a “recruitment crisis” due to its decision to impose "gig economy standards” on new recruits who have joined the service since 2022. 

The CWU says that since 2022, 27,000 new entrants have left the Royal Mail, with 50 per cent leaving within the first year. 

The union is currently in intense negotiations with the company over the Royal Mail’s decision to introduce the Optimised Delivery Model (ODM), which moves second-class mail to alternate-weekday delivery while keeping first-class deliveries six days a week and reducing delivery route numbers in a bid to save money.  

But after it has been piloted at dozens of offices, the CWU says members are describing it as a “car-crash” strategy. Instead of being guided by workers’ ability to deliver a quality service in their working hours, the union says work cannot be completed in time, and the postal worker comes back the next day with all the work from the previous day to complete. 

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “The Royal Mail is one of our most treasured national institutions. 

“But with staff overworked and underpaid – is it any wonder the company is in crisis? 

“Royal Mail bosses must answer for the chaos in the postal service at the Select Committee hearing today. 

“They need to get their house in order. That starts with listening to the workers who know better than anyone how to get the service back on its feet.” 

CWU General Secretary Dave Ward said: “Royal Mail and EP Group have made excuse after excuse over why Royal Mail’s service has been consistently poor over the past few years. 

“Now it is time for the truth. The job of a postal worker has been devalued and shareholder profit has been prioritised over service to the public - this is what is creating the crisis. 

“The CWU welcomes the opportunity to speak for postal workers before the Select Committee. 

“But Parliament must begin thinking seriously about the situation Royal Mail is in, and take real action to prevent this great institution from sliding even further into managed decline.”