Burslem - Two day mail strike over posties' rounds

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THOUSANDS of homes face mail not being delivered as postal workers hold another bout of industrial action.

Staff at Royal Mail's Burslem delivery office are due to strike on Tuesday and Wednesday against changes to working conditions, which come into effect after the Bank Holiday

The action means deliveries across the ST6 postcode area will be limited to premium services, such as special delivery.

Communication Workers' Union (CWU) representatives say staff at the Scotia Road depot are angry bosses are planning to cut 12 jobs, extend delivery routes and change shifts without negotiation.

Royal Mail says the changes are essential to modernise services and make it more efficient in the face of falling mail volumes and increasing competition.

CWU divisional representative, Mick Kavanagh, said: "The action at Burslem is a response to the Royal Mail executive and its ongoing push for modernisation without agreement."

Workers at Burslem have already held two 24-hour walkouts as part of an increasingly bitter national dispute over Royal Mail's modernisation plans, which the CWU says equate to cuts in jobs, pay and services.

Next week's action is being co-ordinated with a wave of strikes taking place across the country, including Birmingham, London, Bristol, Leeds and Nottingham.

CWU deputy general secretary, Dave Ward, said: "Royal Mail needs to accept that there has been a big breakdown in trust between staff and management."

A spokesman for Royal Mail said the firm has contingency plans in place to get service in the ST6 area back to normal as soon as possible after the strike.

He added: "We are again talking with the union, having met them more than 50 times already in recent months.

"We again urge the CWU to call off its strikes and its plans for a ballot next month and to join Royal Mail's drive to complete the modernisation of the business.

"Any changes we are making are fully in line with the existing agreement on modernisation and everything we ask our people to do is reasonable."

Meanwhile, a strike that had been due to take place at Royal Mail's cash transit office in Stoke next week has been called off. Workers at the Leek Road office had been planning to take action on Tuesday and Wednesday after Royal Mail unveiled proposals to close it earlier this month.

The CWU says seven out of 15 staff have been asked to transfer to Sheffield, Chester or Birmingham, with the rest facing the axe, but Royal Mail insists there will be no compulsory redundancies.

Colleagues in processing and distribution only returned to work last week after a two-week strike over plans to transfer their work to Wolverhampton.

The action also sparked an unofficial walkout by delivery workers at the site.

Mr Kavanagh said negotiations are still ongoing.

But he said: "We are nowhere near a resolution and we are not going to allow our members to be treated unfairly."