December 2009’s Christmas post could be affected by the potential strike action of postal workers.

People are being advised to post their December 2009 Christmas cards and presents well before the last posting dates because of the postal strikes threatening to happen across the UK.

The last posting date for first class letters is Monday 21 December, while second class post has to be sent by Friday 18 December.

Standard parcels should be sent by Tuesday 15 December, post via airmail to most of the world by 5 December, to Europe by 12 December, and overland global dates are throughout October and November.

A spokesperson for the Communication and Workers Union (CWU) told the Daily Telegraph at the beginning of October that any suggestion people needed to post their Christmas cards in October was “alarmist”: “We just don’t know whether a national strike will go ahead. We are working day and night to secure an agreement with the management.

“But if a national strike was to go ahead in November it would affect the Christmas post. By this time, people and businesses are edging towards Christmas postings.”

Shortly after this comment, on 8 October, the union announced that strike action would go ahead as 76% of postal workers voted in favour of the action. All dates are still to be confirmed, though some areas of the country have started 24-hour strike action yesterday (12 October).

House of Fraser is the latest retailer to end its use of Royal Mail’s standard delivery – a message on its website reads it is now using DHL’s 48-hour service. John Lewis has also announced it has stopped using the Royal Mail in favour of other couriers.

While the exact strike plans are still unknown, in general it would be fair to say that the earlier people prepare for their festive postings, the more likely they are to be received by Christmas.