Undelivered mail in Fermanagh: 'Overtime limit' means late post in rural areas

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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POSTMEN and women working in Fermanagh are now under “strict instructions” to limit their overtime to 30 minutes, which has meant that some mail is going undelivered in rural parts of the county, a postal worker has said.

The Impartial Reporter understands that local management at Royal Mail informed the workers of the decision to cut back on overtime last week.

The postmen were told that if they weren’t able to complete the delivery routes within the time given then they were to bring any remaining mail back.

A local Royal Mail worker, who wanted to remain anonymous, contacted The Impartial Reporter on Friday afternoon to express his concerns over what was happening.

He alleged that the decision was taken as Royal Mail’s budget was “overstretched” and there was no money available to allow the overtime to be done.

The worker said that, as a result of the cut to overtime, there was a “lot of mail lying there not being delivered”.

He said that, although Enniskillen town had not been affected, some mail had not been delivered to properties in rural areas.

The worker explained that some postmen could take an hour to an hour and a half of overtime to complete their routes.

He said that postmen were now under “strict instructions” to take no more than 30 minutes of overtime, and had to be back at the office within that half an hour.

“Some mail is getting through, but not all,” he said.

The Impartial Reporter contacted Royal Mail outlining the allegations relating to the undelivered mail in County Fermanagh.

In response, a spokesperson for the organisation, Morag Turnbull, did not address the worker’s claims directly, but blamed the delay on “unexpected higher volumes of mail”.

She said: “Unfortunately for a couple of days last week, mail deliveries were impacted by unexpected higher volumes of mail which arrived late into Enniskillen Delivery Office and resulted in a delay to a small amount of mail for rural Fermanagh.”


The spokesperson further stated that the issued had now been resolved.

“Contingency plans have been put in place and this issue has now been resolved and we would like to apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused.

“If any customer has any queries about their mail services, they should contact our Customer Service team on 03457 740 740,” she added.

However, a source from the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents Royal Mail workers in Fermanagh, has confirmed that local postmen had been told to limit their overtime to a maximum of 30 minutes and this was responsible for the undelivered mail.

Speaking to the Impartial Reporter yesterday (Wednesday), the union source said that the issue had been flagged up with the CWU last week and affected offices across the southern sector, which also includes areas such as Newry, Craigavon, Portadown, Armagh and Downpatrick.

“It’s all to do with the budget. It’s wrong and it shouldn’t be happening,” he added.

[Decky Boy]

It's happening where I work too... and I'm considering whistleblowing. Members of the public are paying for a service... and not receiving that service. How some of these Royal Mail "managers" can preside over this shoddy situation...... is beyond me ?

[IloveMYredTROLLEY!]

A new strategy to combat the annual leave weeks pay accounting for the average overtime of the previous 12 weeks?

[Lounge Lizard]

The Impartial Reporter contacted Royal Mail outlining the allegations relating to the undelivered mail in County Fermanagh.
In response, a spokesperson for the organisation, Morag Turnbull, did not address the worker’s claims directly, but blamed the delay on “unexpected higher volumes of mail”.
That' probably nothing compared to the “unexpected higher volumes of mail” in County Fermanagh during December.