Birmingham and Coventry postal workers begin 3-day strike

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Up to 25,000 postal workers, including drivers in Birmingham and Coventry, have started striking in a row over pay and jobs that is threatening huge disruption to mail deliveries.


CWU pickets at the Royal Mail depot in Newtown, Birmingham

Around 80 drivers based at the Mail Centre in Newtown, Birmingham, and a further 100 from the National parcels hub in Coventry were joining a series of 24-hour walkouts from 4am.

The Communication Workers Union said members in areas including the West Country, London, East Anglia, the Midlands and Scotland would take industrial action on Friday, Saturday and Monday - the biggest outbreak of unrest since a national stoppage in 2007, with more disruption threatened in the coming months.

The union's executive has also decided to hold a national ballot of its 160,000 postal members in September which could lead to nationwide strikes in October.

Strikes have hit several areas of the country, notably London and parts of Scotland, in recent weeks in the dispute over pay, jobs and services.

The action is now spreading to other parts of the country, and for the first time will involve drivers of Royal Mail's lorries.

The Royal Mail condemned the strikes and clashed with the union over how many workers will take action, claiming it will only involve 12,000 employees.

Bosses said more than 90% of staff nationally will continue to work normally, and that with the exception of local strikes, the "vast majority" of customers' services will be operating normally over the next few days.

Paul Tolhurst, Royal Mail's operations director, said: "The CWU is again saying one thing and doing another. Publicly they say they want modernisation yet they write regularly to members saying union policy is to oppose change on the ground.

"They agreed with us only last week a timetable for further talks on change, yet they now announce a national strike ballot. Their behaviour beggars belief."

Dave Ward, deputy general secretary of the CWU, said: "Postal workers are sick and tired of an incompetent management running their business into the ground. Workers are busier than ever and being treated badly. The current round of cuts in jobs and services is unacceptable."

Drivers based in Northampton, Birmingham, Coventry, London and Essex will be among workers striking for 24 hours on Friday, while postal staff in Somerset, Bristol and Edinburgh will take action on Saturday. Industrial action will spread to Ipswich and Suffolk on Monday, with further areas set to be hit later next week.

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Residents and businesses hit by latest postal strike
Katie Fitzpatrick
August 07, 2009



ON the picket line ... postal workers went on strike over pay and conditions

POSTAL staff in Rochdale have held a 24 hour strike over changes to their working conditions proposed by Royal Mail.

Disgruntled workers balloted to take strike action, from midnight on Wednesday until midnight Thursday, over fears of job losses and larger delivery rounds resulting in later deliveries,

There are concerns that households and businesses may not receive their post until as late as 4pm.

As a show of solidarity, 100 staff formed a picket line outside the Rochdale delivery office in Ainsworth Street on Thursday morning.

The strike action affected deliveries throughout Rochdale, Castleton, Norden and Bamford with post codes OL 11,12,15 and 16 on Thursday.

The strike followed an individual independent ballot carried out on behalf of the Communication Workers Union, in which just 18 of the Rochdale workforce of over 130 postmen and women registered opposition.

They joined other offices across the UK, who have already taken such action and a further 500 offices who were in the process of undertaking ballots for action in protest against Royal Mail terms and conditions of employment.

Saf Khan, Rochdale's Communication Workers Union representative, said staff have been ‘pushed into a corner’.

He said: "We decided to ballot for the strike after management enforced changes on the workers without our agreement. We are disgruntled with that and there has been a great show of strength.

"They want to change terms and conditions without our agreement. The delivery times have an impact on our local customers and businesses.

"We used to deliver post before 10am and this was changed to 2pm. But the changes mean that they could be delivering even later."

He added: "We are all up for change but with our agreement. Historically workers started before 6am and they finished at 2pm.

"But they want to make later starts and finishing times, so staff could be starting at 9am to 11am and finishing at 5pm to 6pm.

"When you work as a postman you know that you finish at a reasonable time – people have a family life and social time."

One postman, who did not wish to be named, said: "The management at Royal Mail are pushing through changes that are unmanageable. This doesn't do the services that people receive in Rochdale any good.

"Under the proposals delivery times are being made longer and people will receive their post later."

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "We condemn the CWU for striking locally over much-needed modernisation and change which has already been successfully implemented by our people in the majority of offices around the UK and is working well.

"The changes are all covered by the 2007 Agreement on Pay and Modernisation, which the CWU leadership signed in the presence of the TUC but which they are now reneging on in a way that clearly hurts our customers and our people and damages Royal Mail.

"The union claims to support modernisation, yet acts to destroy it."

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Postal workers picket outside Royal Mail's Mount Pleasant Sorting Office in London


Thousands of postal workers have staged a 24-hour strike in a bitter row over pay, jobs and services, with action set to spread into next week.

Members of the Communication Workers Union walked out in areas including London, Northampton, Peterborough, Birmingham and Coventry.

Similar action will be taken on Saturday by Royal Mail employees in Bristol, Edinburgh and Peterborough before strikes spread to East Anglia on Monday and Stoke-on-Trent on Tuesday.

The union has announced plans to ballot all its postal members for a national strike in September, threatening the worst disruption to mail deliveries for two years.

The CWU said it had repeated its offer of a no-strike deal to Royal Mail in return for negotiations to agree a "sustainable future" for the company.

Deputy general secretary Dave Ward said: "Royal Mail management is trying to crush the British postal service. They have been criticised by Government for failing to tackle industrial relations problems, yet they still refuse to address the concerns of postal workers.

"Postal workers and customers are experiencing cuts to services, cuts to hours, cuts to jobs and threats over future jobs and services. This is just down-sizing, there's nothing modern about it.

"We want to see a modern Royal Mail at the cutting edge of British deliveries. There are opportunities in internet delivery fulfilment, modern machinery and innovation in products and services. However, without engagement and negotiation over how this affects the workforce, there is no light at the end of the tunnel for postal workers.

"We are repeating our offer of a no-strike deal to Royal Mail to avert current and future action. In return, we want them to uphold their commitment on the 2007 agreement to negotiate over modernisation."

Royal Mail has accused the union of breaking the agreement which ended the 2007 strike and of refusing to co-operate with modernisation.

[treadhead]

Well done lads our Ballot arrives monday I only hope we get the same result.

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http://www.rochdaleobserver.co.uk/news/ ... tal_strike

Residents and businesses hit by latest postal strike
Katie Fitzpatrick
August 07, 2009



ON the picket line ... postal workers went on strike over pay and conditions

POSTAL staff in Rochdale have held a 24 hour strike over changes to their working conditions proposed by Royal Mail.

Disgruntled workers balloted to take strike action, from midnight on Wednesday until midnight Thursday, over fears of job losses and larger delivery rounds resulting in later deliveries,

There are concerns that households and businesses may not receive their post until as late as 4pm.

As a show of solidarity, 100 staff formed a picket line outside the Rochdale delivery office in Ainsworth Street on Thursday morning.

The strike action affected deliveries throughout Rochdale, Castleton, Norden and Bamford with post codes OL 11,12,15 and 16 on Thursday.

The strike followed an individual independent ballot carried out on behalf of the Communication Workers Union, in which just 18 of the Rochdale workforce of over 130 postmen and women registered opposition.

They joined other offices across the UK, who have already taken such action and a further 500 offices who were in the process of undertaking ballots for action in protest against Royal Mail terms and conditions of employment.

Saf Khan, Rochdale's Communication Workers Union representative, said staff have been ‘pushed into a corner’.

He said: "We decided to ballot for the strike after management enforced changes on the workers without our agreement. We are disgruntled with that and there has been a great show of strength.

"They want to change terms and conditions without our agreement. The delivery times have an impact on our local customers and businesses.

"We used to deliver post before 10am and this was changed to 2pm. But the changes mean that they could be delivering even later."

He added: "We are all up for change but with our agreement. Historically workers started before 6am and they finished at 2pm.

"But they want to make later starts and finishing times, so staff could be starting at 9am to 11am and finishing at 5pm to 6pm.

"When you work as a postman you know that you finish at a reasonable time – people have a family life and social time."

One postman, who did not wish to be named, said: "The management at Royal Mail are pushing through changes that are unmanageable. This doesn't do the services that people receive in Rochdale any good.

"Under the proposals delivery times are being made longer and people will receive their post later."

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "We condemn the CWU for striking locally over much-needed modernisation and change which has already been successfully implemented by our people in the majority of offices around the UK and is working well.

"The changes are all covered by the 2007 Agreement on Pay and Modernisation, which the CWU leadership signed in the presence of the TUC but which they are now reneging on in a way that clearly hurts our customers and our people and damages Royal Mail.

"The union claims to support modernisation, yet acts to destroy it."

BIG UP TO ALL THE ROCHDALE POSTIES........