EXCLUSIVE: As the Royal Mail crisis deepens, it has been claimed that the company are no longer re-staffing all routes when postmen and women take annual leave
One customer says her mail wasn't delivered for ten days because her postman went on holiday(Image: Getty Images)
Royal Mail have been accused of not replacing posties when they go on holiday after customers were handed more than a week's worth of mail.
Around 400 postmen and women are leaving the service every week since the company introduced a new delivery system, union bosses claim. It comes as a "nightmare Christmas” was predicted, with profound issues over the recruitment and retention of staff being reported across the country.
The Communication Workers Union warns Royal Mail is on the "brink of collapse" due to severe operational pressures and a disputed new delivery model. One resident has explained how she missed an important letter from her doctor after her postman knocked on her door to explain why he had not delivered for ten days.
She claims the worker told her he simply wasn't replaced after booking annual leave and his area went without service. The embattled company is to cut up to 2,500 jobs as it seeks to restructure its business, with the firm saying the reforms are part of its plan to deliver a more "efficient and financially sustainable" service.
A customer, based in Surrey who has asked not to be named, told The Mirror: "I had a knock on my door earlier this week and it was our postman, who is a lovely man. He gave me a bundle of my mail and apologised that our post had not been delivered for so long.
"He had been on holiday and Royal Mail had not bothered to reassign his houses to another postman or postwoman. It sums things up. A similar thing happened for three days this summer. It's out of control.
"I sent a card to my friend for her birthday last month and it took nine days to get there, first class. She only lives 50 miles away! Because they didn't bother to fill his shift, I missed an important letter from my doctor and bills I need to pay. It's just not good enough."
The Mirror approached Royal Mail for comment, however they said they are unable to comment on incidents without specific detail of the full circumstances Posties claim households face a "nightmare" in the run-up to Christmas because of delivery changes. They say parcels are still being prioritised over letters, leading to more late deliveries, an issue for which Royal Mail has been widely slammed.
The Communication Workers Union has called for an emergency summit with the company and involving the government, claiming Royal Mail was facing a "ticking timebomb". CWU General Secretary Dave Ward said: “We are calling for a summit between stakeholders and the government to address the ticking timebomb that is Royal Mail.
“A light has been shone on the harsh pressure postal workers are facing, and the price paid by consumers for the historic mismanagement of Royal Mail. Royal Mail has been in structural decline for well over a decade, and the continuous failure to deliver quality of service is killing the brand, demoralising the workforce, and letting down the communities that postal workers are proud to serve.
“At this stage, it doesn’t matter what delivery model is adopted: unless the company faces up to its self-inflicted recruitment and retention crisis, the company is on the brink of collapse. “For years, we have had select committees, promises of £500 million improvement plans, a broad array of agreements and threats to improve from Ofcom."
Relations between the union and Royal Mail have broken down since the introduction of a new delivery model, called DM26, earlier this year.
“Royal Mail is in serious need of a business vision that provides dignified work for employees and quality service for consumers and communities," he added. "The time for developing and implementing this vision is long overdue, and we must begin the work now."
DM26 allows for second class post to be delivered every other day during the week, with the aim of guaranteeing first class mail and parcels are delivered every day, by putting workers into groups of three and changing the walking pattern of rounds.
But post men and women who have spoken to the BBC anonymously say parcels are still being prioritised, letters left behind, and time wasted in sorting and dividing mail into first and second class.