DISRUPTION in the delivery of mail in Thame and the rest of Oxfordshire, is expected for tomorrow, as postal worker members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) at the Swindon sorting office go on strike.
Postal services nationally will be effected following a “Yes” vote in a national ballot for strike action.
Dave Ward, CWU deputy general secretary, said today: “”Royal Mail has never really been engaged in modernisation. They’ve been running down the business, running down services and cutting costs and it’s that business plan that postal workers have overwhelmingly rejected today.
“There’s still an opportunity to reach an agreement before any national strike action takes place.
“We need a national agreement which secures a fair deal on modernisation and reward for the efforts of postal workers in transforming the business. We want reassurances on job security, covering both redundancies and full-time part-time ratios.
“Crucial to an agreement is fair workloads with agreed standards of measurement. Constantly disciplining postal workers will not improve efficiencies but will drive an ever bigger wedge between workers and what they are told is modernisation.
“We’ve seen cuts and increased workloads and now we need an agreed roll-out of real modernisation. Aligning the interests of customers, employees and the company as a whole is a pre-requisite for the successful modernisation of Royal Mail.
“The Government must act now to resolve the pensions deficit which is crippling the Royal Mail’s finances and chances to modernise effectively.”
On its website, Royal Mail seeks to explain its side of the argument with the postal workers. It states:
“In response to the real challenges facing Royal Mail, we have been making changes within our business in a calm, measured and structured way, inviting collaborative dialogue with our unions and employees. We recognise that change impacts on our employees and can be difficult. However, change is essential, driven by the commercial reality of the very difficult business environment being experienced by UK industry.”
Last week Royal Mail?s Managing Director, Mark Higson, said: “In the first week of October, Royal Mail will have successfully completed the major efficiency changes planned for 2009, both nationally and in London. As always the company will be focusing on delivering excellent customer service in the vitally important run-up to Christmas, when letter numbers reach their seasonal peak. Royal Mail calls on the CWU to abandon its unjustified strikes and to help the business deliver the service our customers deserve.”
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