Christmas parcel 'pile-up problem'

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.lep.co.uk/news/Christmas-par ... 4786604.jp

By Matthew Squires
Postmen in Preston fear they are facing a race against time to deliver a huge backlog of Christmas parcels and say Royal Mail bosses are refusing to stump up for extra deliveries.
A worker at the city's Christian Road sorting office said there is a growing pile of undelivered parcels and packets for addresses across Preston and Penwortham which is increasing daily.

Union chiefs say they approached Royal Mail with a "robust plan" to make sure the parcels are cleared.

They claim the company refused, and now a "considerable" number of packages is now piling up.

One source at the Christian Road office, which employs 173 postal workers, said: "There are hundreds, possibly thousands of undelivered packets and parcels at the office.

"The parcels are for all areas of Preston but mainly for Penwortham.

"Some of them have been there nearly two weeks now and more continue to build up.

"This isn't the fault of the postmen as there are dozens of workers desperate for overtime and would happily spend all day shifting them.

"The fault lies with the tight-fisted money men at Royal Mail who refuse to pay for extra hire vans to accommodate the seasonal increase in mail and packets."

Andy Tatchell, of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) in Preston, which represents postal workers, said: "The drivers who take the packets out said, 'Would you like to do a deal with us for so many hours overtime, so when we have finished our normal duties we will do the extra overtime'.

"They said, 'No thanks'.

"We suggested a robust plan and they have chosen not to go down that road.

"They chose not to do it, I can only presume for budget reasons."

Mr Tatchell said the Royal Mail had put some extra resources into clearing the parcels but they have been "reactive" instead of planning ahead.

He added: "For donkeys years we have had a traditional way of dealing with Christmas but in recent years Royal Mail have changed the system."

Postal workers outside the Christian Road office also told of problems.

One postie, who has been with the service for 30 years, said: "It is like anything else, they are trying to cut costs.

" It is the same every Christmas. This is the worst year, it is just getting tighter and tighter. The Christmas spirit has gone."

A delivery driver at the depot said they did not have as many vans as usual.

"Some of the rounds are swamped. What it will be like next week I don't know," he said.

Despite cuts in services and the closure of 2,500 post offices, half-year profits at the Royal Mail more than doubled, it was announced in October.

The company made £177m in operating profits in the past six months, up by £91m on the same period last year and the biggest for at least seven years.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "This is our busiest time of the year and we have introduced Christmas working arrangements at all our delivery offices, including Christian Road in Preston, to ensure that all letters, cards and packets are delivered by 24 December."

[norbert]

According to The Times - it's the postmen's fault for dawdling - every christmas , RM are caught with their pants down .