Post strikes cost city firms £500m

[left739]

from the Press Association

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20091026/tu ... 23e80.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Last week's strikes alone cost firms in the capital an estimated £200 million, according to the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The body, which represents around 3,000 businesses, also called on Business Secretary Lord Mandelson to step in and help resolve the dispute.

London has been hit by series of localised strikes as part of ongoing disagreements between the Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) over modernisation plans.

Industrial action by postal workers has cost London's businesses more than £500 million since the start of the summer, it has been claimed.

Postal workers also staged two days of national strikes last week, with talks planned for Tuesday in a bid to avert a further three days of industrial action at the end of this week.

The LCCI said firms were having to pay more for alternative ways to deliver mail, and were also suffering from cash-flow and other problems.

Chief executive Colin Stanbridge said: "This is a colossal amount of money for the London economy to lose and will delay the capital's economic recovery.

"Not being able to rely on a normal postal service forces companies to pay extra for couriers, delays consumer spending, damages client relationships and plays havoc with a firm's cash flow.

"It is now high time that Lord Mandelson intervened personally to broker a deal between Royal Mail and the CWU and bring an immediate end to these strikes."

The figures came from a survey of London businesses by pollsters ComRes conducted for the LCCI."

The pressure builds.

[Destroyer]

Seems theres a lot more at stake with these strikes were undertaking rather than just damaging our own industry ?? If only the company had just decided to steady the ship this year & go for 'No Pay Rise - No Job Cuts - No Strikes' I'm sure most would of gone for that. But no, they wanted this alright.

[barbario]

Our line managers always said to us in WTL that nobody would care if we went on strike because of Email and faxes,and therefore we weren't important anymore.That seems to have been blown right out of the water.

[POSTMAN]

Our line managers always said to us in WTL that nobody would care if we went on strike because of Email and faxes,and therefore we weren't important anymore.That seems to have been blown right out of the water.

I guess he'll be looking for a job soon then,what a numpty!

[music4essex]

If these city firms are so worried about the money they have to spend or lost maybe they should ask the city bankers a loan from there nice bonus's they will be getting my heart bleads for them NOT

Essex postie Mum

[Fred B]

Our line managers always said to us in WTL that nobody would care if we went on strike because of Email and faxes,and therefore we weren't important anymore.That seems to have been blown right out of the water.

I guess he'll be looking for a job soon then,what a numpty!

He might find something with another company, but it certainly won't be as a manager.