York Christmas postal strike looming (From York Press)

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York Christmas postal strike looming

11:30am Monday 17th November 2008 in News By Gerran Grimshaw

STRIKE action by York postal workers during the busy run-up to Christmas got one step closer over the weekend.

Members of the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) unanimously voted to ballot for strike action over a controversial decision to stop sorting second-class mail at the Leeman Road depot.

The decision comes as the company prepares for its busiest period. Royal Mail delivers 4.1 million items in the YO postcode area on an average week, but this figure rises to 5.5 million in the week before Christmas.

Union members met on Saturday afternoon to discuss industrial action following a management decision earlier this month to transfer the processing of some mail from York to the Leeds Mail Centre.

Postal workers attended the extraordinary union meeting at the Post Office Club, in Marygate.

CWU York branch secretary Dave Dowling said members had agreed to hold a ballot should Royal Mail continue with its plans without their agreement.

“The turn-out demonstrated the concern people have for the future of the York Mail Centre and the disgust felt at the proposals to move York’s second-class mail to Leeds to be sorted,” he said.

“We are thankful for all the messages of public support on this issue. Royal Mail’s proposals do not make any business sense and will worsen the quality of service and increase the costs of processing this mail.

“We call on Royal Mail to negotiate with the intent of reaching agreement on this issue.”

He said the union had put forward further proposals to the company which were “sensible and designed to maintain and improve quality and maximise efficiency”.

When The Press exclusively revealed Royal Mail’s decision earlier this month, the company said the move was intended to improve operational efficiency and would not result in the loss of any of the York centre’s 360 jobs.

It also said there were “no plans at the moment” to transfer any further mail processing from York to Leeds.

But Mr Dowling demanded Royal Mail “come clean” about the future of the Leeman Road depot.

“Instead of saying they have no current plans to close the mail centre, they should tell us and the York public we serve what their plans are for the future of the centre,” he said.

“The should commit to keeping a mail centre in the city now and for the long-term. If they refuse to do this, then only one conclusion can be drawn.”

He said strike action could be avoided if Royal Mail was serious about reaching an agreement.

Last week, a company spokeswoman said: “We remain ready to discuss our plans with the union and would urge them not to call for strike action which can only be damaging both for the business and for our customers.”

Comments(16)

bob the builder says...
11:48am Mon 17 Nov 08

I want my mail to come from York, sorted and delivered by local people with local jobs. We'll have later deliveries if it has to be collected from Leeds and any items I have to pick up because I'm not in to sign for them will be in Leeds. Royal Mail is a service to the public it should'nt be run to make huge profits otherwise we will only end up with the poor and the elderly receiving little or no service.