Royal Mail has experienced a significant increase in staff departures, with approximately 400 postmen and women leaving the company each week, according to the Communication Workers Union. This represents an uptick from the previous rate of about 330 departures weekly before the company implemented DM26, a new delivery system introduced earlier this year.
The DM26 system reorganizes postal routes and assigns workers to groups of three with modified walking patterns. It allows second class post to be delivered every other weekday while guaranteeing first class mail and parcels are delivered daily. However, the CWU contends the system is not functioning properly in hundreds of Royal Mail offices across the UK. Staff members have reported that parcels continue to be prioritized over letters, mail is being left undelivered, and significant time is spent sorting mail by delivery class. Multiple postal workers tracked by BBC Your Voice reported their daily step counts increased by approximately a quarter to a third since the transition, with some exceeding 25,000 steps daily.
Concerns about service capacity are mounting as the busy Christmas period approaches. Several postal workers expressed anxiety about handling increased parcel volumes with reduced staffing levels. One former employee who quit in July stated the company was attempting to accomplish four people’s worth of work with three staff members. The CWU has instructed its members to pause further DM26 rollout pending negotiations with Royal Mail to resolve identified problems, noting the system operates successfully in around 500 offices but faces significant difficulties in hundreds of others.
Royal Mail maintains the reforms are essential for delivering an efficient and sustainable service. The company reports DM26 deployment is 90 percent complete across approximately 1,000 of its 1,200 delivery offices, with expectations for full implementation by Christmas. Royal Mail states it is now delivering to 95 percent of UK addresses daily, up from 88 percent before the rollout, and is hiring 22,000 temporary workers for the seasonal period. Regulatory oversight continues, with Ofcom having levied over £37 million in fines against Royal Mail over the last three years for missing delivery targets, and MPs have scheduled meetings with the regulator to discuss long-term solutions.
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