16,000 postal workers 'facing axe'

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpres ... ug-sHmI-FA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Up to 16,000 staff at Royal Mail face redundancy as part of a major efficiency drive, a report has said.

According to the Daily Mirror, the post provider is planning to cut costs by 10% - threatening the jobs of one in 10 of its 160,000-strong workforce.

Royal Mail is writing to staff offering three options - voluntary redundancy, part-time work or switching locations, the paper said. It is estimated the proposal will reduce the wage bill by £470 million a year.

A Royal Mail spokesman said no job loss announcement had been made, but it was working with staff over modernisation plans.

He said: "Royal Mail have made absolutely no announcement of job losses but we want to work with our people so that we take into account their wishes and preferences as Royal Mail continues to modernise and transform its operation to meet the challenges of falling mail volumes and intensifying competition, especially from email and the web as broadband use expands."

Commenting on the job cut fears, Dave Ward, deputy leader of Communication Workers Union, told the Mirror: "We are not opposed to modernisation but these are random savings which have not been properly worked out. They have nothing to do with modernisation, they are panic measures which will hit the quality of service."

Late last year a long-awaited report called for a major overhaul of Royal Mail to secure its future and tackle its multibillion-pound pension deficit.

The Hooper report said the post provider was less automated and less efficient than its Western European counterparts, and effectively needed to be part-privatised.

Dutch postal giant TNT expressed an interest in exploring a "strategic partnership" with Royal Mail, a move warmly welcomed by ministers but attacked by the main postal workers' union.

Royal Mail has shed an estimated 50,000 jobs since 2002, and is part-way through a closure programme of more than 2,000 of its 14,000 post offices.

[LDV 350]

When are the letters going out? i would happily see what they offer and jump ship

[TrueBlueTerrier]

comments to this thread please - The Mirror story that "broke" the news http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... 18&t=14197" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;