A North Wales MS and former Flintshire postal worker criticised a response letter from Royal Mail following her vocal support for ongoing strike action. 

A series of strikes by members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) has taken place in recent months following a dispute over pay and conditions.

That includes Wrexham, where workers gathered outside the delivery office on regent Street on Tuesday, October 25, to make their feelings known.

Postal workers in Mold set up a picket line outside the post office on Earl Road on Thursday, October 20, joined by former postal worker and current Member of Senedd, Carolyn Thomas. 

More action had been planned for November but has been withdrawn after a letter from the Royal Mail's legal team was received. 

The union has withdrawn the industrial action notices over the next two weeks including on November 2, 3, 4, 8, 9 and 10 following the letter.

Ten days of planned talks will resume between Royal Mail and CWU at Acas today, Monday, October 31 in another bid to reach a resolution. 

The strikes will resume on Saturday, November 12, the union has said.

MS Thomas has taken to social media in recent weeks to share her support of striking workers and the Communication and Workers’ Union (CWU).

MS Thomas has accused the Royal Mail of "attacking the CWU and placing the blame for this industrial action at the door of the union for standing up for postal workers across the UK" in a recent letter she received from the company. 

The Leader:

MS Thomas described the behaviour of the Royal Mail throughout the recent strikes as "reprehensible" and heavily criticised the privatisation of Royal Mail which took place in 2013.

The majority of the company was disposed of in 2013, with 10% of shares allocated to an employee free offer and 60 per cent sold to individuals and financial institutions.

She said: "Fundamentally, there are lessons to be learned for politicians about the failures and consequences of privatisation."

MS Thomas criticised the impacts of privatisation across other companies in the UK "from water and energy companies to our buses and railways."

She added: "As a former postal worker, the wrecking of Royal Mail at the hands of this unhinged profit-obsessed mantra is heart-breaking. Moving forward in this dispute, our unity of message must be clear: enough is enough. We will not accept the replacement of workers with self-employed new entrants on reduced pay and the forced adoption of a gig-economy business model. We must save the Royal Mail."

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A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We remain hopeful of continuing talks with the CWU through Acas to resolve our dispute on change and pay. This is the only way to get a resolution and secure Royal Mail's future and jobs for our people.

“We want to protect well-paid, permanent jobs long-term and retain our place as the industry leader on pay, terms and conditions. The CWU rejected our offer worth up to 5.5 per cent for CWU grade colleagues, the biggest increase we have offered for many years. In a business that is currently losing £1 million pounds a day, we can only fund this offer by agreeing the changes that will pay for it.

"We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience the CWU's continued strike action will cause. We are doing all we can to minimise delays and keep people, businesses and the country connected."