Scores of Royal Mail workers downed tools on Wednesday as part of a long-running dispute with their employer.

Around a dozen members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) were positioned on a picket line outside the Royal Mail depot in Dorcan on Wednesday.

Union representative Chris Rye told the Adver: “We reckon 98 per cent of workers are on strike today, and the remainder two per cent is only letting a few tracked parcels through.”

Although the national strike ballot was over pay, where 97.6 per cent voted to take action nationally on a 77 per cent turnout, Mr Rye and Royal Mail workers at the picket line say it is not their priority.

“They’re attacking everything. If it was just pay, we probably wouldn’t strike, you know, but they’re after everything,” said long-standing employee of Royal Mail Alan Shepherd.

John Trowbridge, postal worker for 35 years, said: “It’s not sustainable anymore. We don’t get paid much and now we can’t even spend time with our families.

“What have you got left, right?”

Royal Mail is currently consulting on a programme of job cuts and could see thousands of full-time roles cut by next summer with voluntary redundancies being offered under new terms, ending the payment of up to two-year pay.

Mr Rye said he didn’t understand "how management could justify the job cuts because they keep bringing agency staff in”.

Royal Mail announced a group profit of £758 million in the last financial year but recently said its adjusted operating loss between April and June this year was £92m.

Several workers mentioned issues with the changes in focus of the business, with parcels prioritised over letters.

“If you went inside today, you’d find letters from four days ago that haven’t been delivered,” said Steve Cox, CWU representative for Swindon.

Royal Mail has been communicating their plans to become a parcel-led business since 2019. However, the delivery of letters is a requirement under the Minimum Universal Service.

Mr Cox explained: “We worked hard all the way through Covid but that means nothing to them. They don’t care about their workers, they don’t care about the customers, they just care about making a profit.”

Mr Shepherd concluded: “We’d rather lose our job and take down Royal Mail with us, than accept these terms and work conditions.”

All his colleagues nodded with one of them adding: “We’ve been at it for seven months, we’re not ready to back down.”

Royal Mail didn’t respond to the Adver's request for comment.