Postmen march against sorting office closure

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POSTMEN have hit back at what they describe as “non-sensical” plans to close a sorting office in Bolton.

Workers are furious about the closure of Farnworth’s Royal Mail Centre and the increased travel for those who will be relocated.

The building in Stonehill Street is due to close next year in a move which would make about 400 workers redundant and cause the rest of the staff to be moved elsewhere.

Yesterday, delivery staff marched for over three hours from Farnworth to Horwich to protest about the move.

The postmen, most of whom live in Farnworth, will be moved to Horwich in August this year, which means they will have to travel about 10 miles to work before coming back to deliver mail.

Workers and union bosses have been protesting against the proposals since they were announced last year.

One postman, who has worked for Royal Mail for eight years but declined to give his name, said: “When they decided to move the office ten miles away I don’t think the management even knew we existed. It is an unprecedented distance for us to walk.”

Another worker, who has been a postman for 20 years but asked not be named, said: “This is going to force people out of jobs because they won’t be able to afford to get to work.

“The partimers are barely making £200 per week and now they are expected to spend an extra £15 per week on petrol when they can not even pay their mortgage.

“The public will have to travel two hours to collect packages. What about the old ladies? It is a bus and a train ride, then a 15 minute walk away in Horwich. And delivery times will be later too.”

Royal Mail said the move would not hit delivery times and it planned to invest £51million in a regional distribution centre and four delivery offices.

Workers say plans to provide a company van to drive them from Horwich to Farnworth to deliver post are “just another cost-cutting measure.”

One postman, who drives to work, said: “It just does not make sense. We will drive to Horwich and leave our cars, only to be driven back to Farnworth, where will be stranded because they will not provide transport back to pick up our cars.”

Mick Hargraves, secretary of the Communication Workers’ Union Bolton and Bury branch, said yesterday’s march was to raise public awareness.

He said: “This is a spontaneous reaction by staff who want to tell people in Farnworth and Kearsely about this non-sensical move by Royal Mail.

“We have worked with our colleagues in the North West to put forward a central proposal to Royal Mail to retain a depot in Farnworth which they have rejected. It is an on-going dispute.

“The move was proposed four years ago but thrown out because the management realised it was nonsensical. Now they are dragging it out of the dustbin.”

The closure of the Farnworth office is one of many across the region.

When the Stonehill Street centre closes, all Bolton and Bury mail will be sorted in Manchester, while Wigan mail will be sorted in Warrington.

Mr Hargraves added: “It is a postcode lottery. The money Royal Mail is going to save by selling the Farnworth building is enough to build a new one in Manchester and that is all they care about.”