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Striking postal workers in Islington. ‘Pickets were well supported,’ says union |
Postal staff back at work but more stoppages threatened
Union claims overtime dispute is adding to disruption of mail deliveries
STRIKING postal workers in Islington hailed their four days of industrial action a success this week.
Royal Mail staff returned to work on Wednesday, but have warned that more stoppages are likely. Deliveries in Islington have been further hit by a local dispute over overtime pay, workers claimed.
Communication Workers Union representative for north London, Mark Dolan, said that, aside from managers, only one worker crossed the picket line in Islington during the national stoppage.
“The pickets were well supported,” he added. “Our members know what’s at stake and that’s the future of the postal service, the fate of their terms and conditions and their pensions.
“People are very clear they will continue to strike until we get an agreement. The unions have announced more dates.”
He added that, while the union did not oppose modernisation, workers would not accept the “destruction” of working arrangements.
Sorting offices in Almeida Street, Angel and Upper Holloway were among those affected by the stoppage. “There were managers there but they are not doing anything in terms of anything productive,” Mr Dolan said.
“They are just answering phone calls. A lot of staff are now going back to even later hours, which means the public will get the post even later than it already is being delivered.
“The staff are going back to lots of backlog of unsorted mail. There’s loads of work.”
Mr Dolan claimed that in Islington the Royal Mail was failing to honour a previous agreement over overtime pay. As a result, temporary staff were being brought in to cover work full-time staff refused to do.
He said: “It’s an utter disgrace. If the public really knew what was going on they would be annoyed. People are not getting their mail.
“There’s a local dispute in Islington over when deliveries are uncovered, for example when someone is sick. Untrained casuals are instead being brought in to deliver mail. As a consequence some deliveries are not going out in Islington.”
He claimed some agency workers were dumping mail back in postboxes rather than delivering it.
Royal Mail spokesman James Taylor said: “We have managers working across the service during the industrial action. They will be doing what they can to lessen the effects of the strike action.
“Clearly, there is severe disruption.”
He denied there was a dispute in Islington over overtime and said he was unaware of any complaints against agency staff.
“Normal levels of overtime are available,” he added. “Outside of official industrial action, agency staff, fully vetted and cleared, would be used where overtime hasn’t been picked up by staff, to ensure mail is going out.” |
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