Last Mile Brief 08/02/2023: Legal challenge by Royal Mail sees unions call off two-day walkout

In today's Last Mile Brief, we bring you news of an intervention in the Royal Mail strike saga, plus new features coming to Quadient's parcel lockers, and another social media app that's set to provide home delivery.

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Today’s headline story: Legal challenge by Royal Mail sees unions call off two-day walkout

The CWU trade union has called off a two-day period of industrial action by postal workers following a legal intervention from the Royal Mail.

In a newsletter sent to its members on Monday evening, the trade union said:

“Over the weekend we received correspondence from Royal Mail Group’s legal representatives challenging the strike action we have called across the 16th/17th February. Having discussed this with our lawyers, they have advised that we could defend our position in court. However, they have also advised that given the laws in this country are heavily weighted against working people, the risks of losing in court may potentially impact on the re-ballot – we simply cannot allow this happen.”

The union adds that due to this, its Postal Executive do not believe “it is worth risking the status of the new ballot to defend a ballot mandate that expires on 17th February”.

Instead, the CWU says it will do the following:

It will not be taking strike action on 16th/17th February
It will focus on winning the ballot
It will re-enter negotiations with Royal Mail Group this week
If talks fail, it will significantly step up the programme of strike action
It will shortly announce details of a formal strike fund

Meanwhile, a Royal Mail spokesperson has told BBC News that the cancelled strike would be a “relief” for customers.

“We welcome the fact that the strike action has been called off. It will be a relief to our customers and we intend to use this time and space for further discussions to try to agree a deal,” the spokesperson is quoted as saying.

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Call to action – Out of Home delivery in Europe 2023 report

The Last Mile Experts team, together with partner Analysys Mason, invite you to participate in a project aimed at presenting the latest information on European OOH networks – PUDO points and APMs.

The goal of the third edition of our Out of Home delivery in Europe report is to present data on the development of PUDO and APM networks supporting an environmentally friendly methods of last mile delivery. Since the first edition of our report in 2021, many European (EU & UK) carriers and operators have shared information with us about the number of PUDO and APM points.

However, there is a sizable group that has not provided us with data until now, and those we have presented have come from available press materials, interviews and website information. Every year there are also new networks that are just entering the OOH delivery business. So we invite everyone who has not yet submitted their data to participate (for free) in our project this year.

You can get more information and an simplified application form by writing to info@lmexpert.com. We are collecting data for the report up to and including February 17, 2023.

For those who have not yet had the opportunity to read the previous editions of the reports, you can do so here and become acquainted with its concept and what it strives to achieve. You can also find more information via Linkedin.

Thank you from Last Mile Experts and the Analysys Mason team.

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Photo: Rab-k, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons