City of York Council calling for RM to keep sorting in York

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City of York Council calling for Royal Mail to keep a sorting office in York

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COUNCILLORS will tonight call on Royal Mail to commit to its future in York – a day after The Press revealed fresh union fears over the city’s sorting office and more than 350 jobs.

The ruling Liberal Democrats on City of York Council are proposing a motion at a full meeting calling for the company to keep a sorting office in York and protect the city’s postmark.

The Press yesterday reported claims by leaders of the Communications Workers Union (CWU) that Royal Mail had intended sending millions of York letters to Leeds for sorting this summer because of a reduction in the amount of mail – but then abandoned the plans following union opposition. One postal worker contacted the newspaper to say staff believed that if the mail went to Leeds for the summer, it would not return to York, and the sorting office in Leeman Road would be closed within a year.

The claims echoed the row last autumn over plans to sort York second-class mail in Leeds, which many workers saw as the forerunner to the transfer of first-class and other mail to Leeds, and the eventual closure of the Leeman Road offices, with the loss of more than 350 jobs. The second class transfer eventually went through.

Tom Holvey, a Dringhouses and Woodthorpe councillor, who is proposing tonight’s motion, said when the decision to move second class sorting to Leeds was made, councillors put pressure on Royal Mail to reconsider, but the message clearly didn’t get through. “With the threat of even more services being relocated, it is vital that we work closely with Royal Mail and the unions to help to protect jobs in the city,” he said.

Fulford Councillor Keith Aspden, who is seconding the motion, said the environmental impact of moving more services would be unacceptable.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “There are no plans to close York Mail Centre or change the York postmark at the moment.”