Isle of Man Post Office's contingency plans for the Communication Workers Union planned strike action taking place from 05.30 on Thursday 14th February to 1800 on Saturday 16th February.
Letter & Parcel deliveries
We will receive both air and sea mail into the Island on the mornings of all three strike days as normal and make evening airmail despatches to the UK on both Thursday 14th and Friday 15th February. We will be contacting our business customers separately to explain our contingencies to try to maintain the flow of mail they need during the three days and, generally, business collections will be made as normal during the period.
With potentially more than 200 experienced members of staff out on strike, customers are advised that an Island-wide doorstep delivery of standard post will not be possible which will include Valentine’s Day cards. IOMPO will prioritise premium services (Special Delivery and Parcelforce 24), Yodel parcel deliveries and business services for commercial clients. Depending on how many people attend for work on the strike days, IOMPO will try to deliver and collect as much other mail as possible.
Valentine’s flowers and cards
IOMPO normally delivers approximately 500 bouquets of flowers on Valentine’s Day and delivering these will not be affected. For Thursday 14th February, our priority is to deliver all of our customers’ flowers that have either been ordered locally or are being brought in from the UK. It will very much be business as usual with staff on hand to deliver them. With regards to Valentine’s cards, we would encourage customers to post these as early as possible so they can be delivered ahead of February 14.
Next-day guaranteed items
Special Delivery and Parcelforce next–day guaranteed items will be delivered on strike days although may be subject to a small time delay. Meanwhile, the despatch of Special Delivery and Parcelforce items on the Thursday and Friday evenings will be as normal and the time guarantee for both services will remain in place.
Customer counter at Postal Headquarters
The customer counter at Postal Headquarters will be operating slightly different opening hours to normal during the strike days: Thursday 14th & Friday 15th February: 08:00 – 19:30hrs and Saturday 08:00 – 12.30hrs, while the Vehicle and Driving Licensing counter will be open normal hours should customers wish to purchase a vehicle or driving licence. Please note this counter never operates on a Saturday.
Post Office Network
The Retail Network across the Island will be open as normal, as will the self-service Pay and Post kiosks located in the Spar, Colby; Strand Street Post Office, Douglas; Sea Terminal; Tesco, Lake Road, Douglas; Shoprite, Victoria Road, Douglas; Station Garage, Castletown; Shoprite, Peel; Shoprite, Ramsey; Postal Headquarters, Douglas and Ramsey Post Office. MiCard customers will be unaffected.
Southern Delivery Office & Northern Delivery Offices
The customer counter at the Southern Delivery Office will be closed on the strike days and there will be reduced opening hours at the counter provided at the Northern Delivery Office of 09.00hrs – 17:00hrs on Thursday 14th & Friday 15th February and 09.00hrs -12.30hrs on Saturday 16th February.
Integrated Mailing Solutions (IMS)
IOMPO’s Integrated Mailing Solutions (IMS) division will be unaffected by the strike action and will continue to be open as usual offering printing, fulfilment and scanning services.
IOMPO remains open to further talks with the union at any time to settle this dispute and avoid the planned strike action.
Press releases
POST OFFICE CONFIRMS TALKS WITH THE UNION ARE ONGOING BUT ANNOUNCE STRONG CONTINGENCY PLANS - Issued 6th February 2019
ISLE OF MAN POST OFFICE DISAPPOINTED BY CWU DECISION TO STRIKE- Issued 31st January 2019
Frequently Asked Questions
Please click this link to download our Frequently Asked Questions.