Darlington Postal workers in strike action

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POSTAL workers in a North-East town joined thousands of others around the country in taking strike action yesterday.

Following a recent ballot, 230 Royal Mail workers in Darlington took part in the strike at various points throughout the day.

Members of the Communications Workers’ Union (CWU) said they were fighting to safeguard the future of Darlington Mail Centre and protesting over an un-agreed transfer of work.

To minimise the effect on customers, the CWU chose to restrict its action to one hour per shift.

Union branch secretary Brett Giroux said “The members here in Darlington have not taken the decision to take industrial action lightly.

“No one wishes to go on strike, but at present they see no other way of getting across to Royal Mail that we need to be treated fairly.

“Royal Mail are yet to sit down and start talking about how we resolve this dispute.

“We are hoping this action will be able to do that, which we hope will lead to a quick resolution to the dispute, providing Royal Mail are serious about resolving the issues here in Darlington.”

Thousands of other postal workers across the UK took action yesterday, with strikes taking place in London, Edinburgh, Bristol, and Plymouth.

Royal Mail condemned the action but said it did not anticipate the strikes would cause disruption to customers.

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said: “We will do everything possible to provide as complete a service as possible to customers during the strike.

“Strike action hurts businesses and individuals, and our customers will not understand how the CWU leadership can keep saying it backs modernisation while constantly resisting the introduction of new technology and more efficient working practices on the ground.”