Overview
- The Communication Workers Union says about 400 Royal Mail staff are resigning each week, a figure reported on Wednesday that has driven its call to pause the DM26 rollout and hold an emergency summit with government and management.
- Royal Mail says the new delivery model is roughly 90% rolled out, that daily address reach has risen to about 95% from 88%, and that it will hire about 22,000 temporary staff and make up to 2,500 role changes to stabilise operations.
- DM26 groups delivery staff into teams of three and shifts second-class letters to alternate weekdays so first-class mail and parcels are delivered daily, a change workers say has increased walking distances, made rounds harder and added sorting time.
- Frontline reports and local customer cases describe unfilled holiday routes, parcels being prioritised over letters and delayed or missed correspondence, including important medical and billing letters that affect residents directly.
- Ofcom has required an improvement plan and ministers have urged visible progress, so the key things to watch are whether Royal Mail fills local vacancies, completes the improvement plan on schedule and restores consistent daily coverage before the Christmas peak.