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 Snub: MP Emily Thornberry outside the Ameida Street office on Tuesday – now there are reports of a rapid clear-up operation as a result |
MP’s post protest hits a brick wall
Bosses react with fury after Labour politician is shown the door by delivery office staff
THE sun had barely risen and the coffee shops were closed, but Emily Thornberry was in investigative mood.
Armed with an official-looking letter and sporting a House of Commons badge, the Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury stormed the Almeida Street delivery office at 6.30am on Tuesday, demanding answers from Post Office bosses on why the mail is late. She didn’t even make it past reception, shown the door by a burly looking area manager who told her to come back another day.
One insider at the depot told the Tribune that top Post Office bosses “went ballistic” and that some managers almost “came to blows” after learning of the MP’s snub.
He said: “It’s more than caused a ripple. It’s going round the depot like wildfire. Now they are are clearing the place up in case she comes back.”
Ms Thornberry had written to Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier on Friday complaining about a backlog of post and that millions of pounds of government funding for new sorting technology has not been spent.
She warned him of her dawn visit to the Almeida depot, attended by the Tribune, but had had no official invitation.
“They clearly haven’t received the letter!” she said. “You hear stories and I wanted to see the evidence with my own eyes. I hope the stories are exaggerations, but I fear they will only get worse.
“I think it was very important that, given the level of concern among constituents, that I went to see for myself what was going on.”
While cut-backs and strikes have crippled deliveries across the country, postmen at the Almeida depot – the biggest office in north London – say they have been under more pressure than most.
Last year managers and union reps signed an agreement that was supposed to pave the way for crucial modern sorting technology inside the depot.
Mark Dolan, north London area delivery rep for the Communication Workers Union (CWU), said: “We signed up for modernisation, agreeing to many conditions – but then they tore up the agreement and the modernisation never happened. We agreed there would be a cut of some jobs and savings.
“We went from a five-day week to a four-day week, more days to be with their families, or extra opportunities. We were guaranteeing the bigger picture, the future of the industry.”
The installation of modern sorting technology is at the centre of the row between the CWU and Royal Mail that has led to 12 strikes in 12 weeks in Islington.
Royal Mail argue that CWU is “blocking” modernisation. The union disputes this. May saw 22 delivery workers sacked and 16 of the office’s 60 delivery rounds being axed at the Almedia Street office.
Mr Dolan, who has worked as a postman for more than 30 years, said the relationship between management and staff was at an all-time low.
He said in another office postal workers had been forced to take down photos of their wives and children from their sorting bays and that staff with severe health problems were being made to work longer shifts.
Earlier this month, managers received a circular from bosses praising them for for ignoring union pleas over their “summer savings”.
The CWU will ballot for national strike action on October 8.
In an Islington twist to a national story, the strike ballot papers, printed by the Electoral Reform Society, will be sorted for delivery by workers at the Almeida depot.
Jim Kirwan, north/north-west London CWU branch secretary, said: “In my opinion, it is whether Royal Mail will decide to reach an agreement after seeing a big ‘yes’ vote. Will that push them into an agreement.
“Whatever needs to be done, there is a mistrust that needs to be addressed. That needs to get sorted out through an agreement. I think someone independent should come in and look at the workload.” |
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