2.5m letters and parcels held in limbo

[seanocelt]

Wasnt sure which topic to put this under; Edinburgh's evening paper arcticle;
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/topst ... 6682907.jp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[post_bitch]

may battle commence

[alloria]

No surprises there, the revisions have really ruined deliveries here, we have mail stacked to the ceiling in the delivery office.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.scotsman.com/news/25m-letter ... 6682907.jp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ROUND 2.5 million letters and parcels have been left stuck in Edinburgh's main sorting office as posties struggle to clear a backlog of Christmas mail, it emerged today.


• Mountains of Christmas post delayed by the bad weather are now preventing new mail being delivered

Union bosses told the Evening News that Royal Mail staff are battling a "gigantic" mountain of mail caused by the severe weather disruption and a shortage of workers over the festive period.

Around 300,000 items have piled up at local delivery offices across Edinburgh and the Lothians since the beginning of December.

And with workers struggling to clear the backlog this has meant the 2.5 million pieces of mail that recently reached the central Sighthill sorting office - which sends on the post to all the delivery offices - are stuck in a traffic jam of deliveries.

Up to 1.5 million items of mail are handled by local sorting offices every day, and the situation has become so desperate that fresh letters and parcels are having to be sent to a temporary warehouse in Bathgate because the sorting office is so full.

A Royal Mail spokeswoman confirmed that postal workers had been carrying out extra deliveries and will be delivering on Sunday.

She said: "The vast majority of Christmas mail was delivered despite the most hostile start to winter weather in the UK in living memory. We will continue to deliver any remaining items as quickly as possible. Our people have been absolutely fantastic and are completely focused on delivering the mail."

Communication Workers Union representative for Edinburgh Gary Clark, who works as a postie at Comely Bank, said the huge haul of mail at the Sighthill central hub had missed its delivery target by around two days. Speaking on behalf of the union, he explained: "I believe there is a backlog of around 2.5 million letters and parcels at the Sighthill Mail Centre that has not reached its delivery target. Usually after Christmas there is only a backlog of around 500,000.

"It (new mail] can't move because there is so much Christmas mail sitting in delivery offices all over Edinburgh, which could date back to mid-December or possibly earlier. For example, we believe there are around 30,000 pieces of mail at the Comely Bank depot and between 30,000 and 50,000 pieces of mail at the Gyle delivery office. This backlog is down to the weather disruption prior to Christmas and a shortage of staff. Workers can't cope with the amount of mail. Royal Mail are now putting on extra staff and asking people to volunteer for overtime, but uptake is slow at present."

He added: "There is a staff issue. There are currently nine full-time vacancies going at the Comely Bank office, so it was short-staffed from the start of Christmas. Our members are really disappointed. We're trying to provide a service that we take pride of and wish to complete. We feel very bad about the presents and Christmas cards, we have families and kids ourselves."

Mr Clark said he believed a number of temporary festive staff would be kept on for longer than usual to help shift the backlog. The Bathgate warehouse, which is rented out every Christmas, also looks set to be hired out for longer.

Another postal worker, from the Comely Bank depot, said posties were doing double shifts to try to get back on track.

[rolf]

Check this out

http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/t ... 6682907.jp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[jockstrapp]

It's all a pack of lies, we are not aware of any problems in Edinburgh says a Royal mail spokesperson

Well that will be the official responce

[Straight4ward]

So that's where Limbo is - - - the central Sighthill sorting office.

[BELIAL]

I thought it was purgatory ?

[alloria]

See here - http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... =1&t=32949" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[TrueBlueTerrier]

All 3 threads merged - missed the 2 in Blue Shirts as was expecting to see it in News.

[post_bitch]

all they letters etc and we are hammered with

catalouges and leaflets must go out! "within 3 days"
cant they wait?

good luck
with the week long blizzard
about to smash edinburgh and the backlog into oblivion

[stokes11eg]

all they letters etc and we are hammered with

catalouges and leaflets must go out! "within 3 days"
cant they wait?

good luck
with the week long blizzard
about to smash edinburgh and the backlog into oblivion

Yip--it's snowing again!

[not me]

Communication Workers Union representative for Edinburgh Gary Clark, who works as a postie at Comely Bank, said the huge haul of mail at the Sighthill central hub had missed its delivery target by around two days. Speaking on behalf of the union

was he really?

[fishtank]

Communication Workers Union representative for Edinburgh Gary Clark, who works as a postie at Comely Bank, said the huge haul of mail at the Sighthill central hub had missed its delivery target by around two days. Speaking on behalf of the union

was he really?

Do you know Gary?
If you do you will know that he opposed this deal as he did with P&M2007.
He is a decent bloke in my opinion...there are others at Scotland No2 that i couldn't say the same about.

[redspartapost]

i agree with fishtank that he is a decent bloke and have allways voted for him when he has been a candidate in branch elections.his politics outside the workplace are also spot on