MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th January, 2023) The United Kingdom's postal service, the Royal Mail, lost about 200 million Pounds sterling ($247.8 million) within the nine months that ended in December 2022, due to industrial strikes driven primarily by record inflation in the country, its parent firm, International Distributions Services (IDS), said on Thursday.
"Year to date adjusted operating loss of �295 million. Net cost of strike action in the nine-month period estimated at c. �200 million," the statement read.
Moreover, the postal service's revenue was "down 12.8% year on year in the nine-month period," the IDS added.
"Performance continues to be driven by a return to structural decline in letters, weaker retail trends, the impact of industrial disruption (18 strike days year to date), and lower test kit volumes," the statement read.
The majority of UK public sector workers have been demanding a pay rise to keep up with soaring 9.2% inflation in the country, caused by the government's COVID-19 bailouts and the Ukraine crisis.
In December 2022, over 115,000 Royal Mail workers from the Communication Workers Union (CWU) took part in the industrial walkout and demanded an increase in salary. The UK authorities reportedly were going to grant the public workers an income boost starting from April 2023 when the new fiscal year begins.
