A million letters could go undelivered in Royal Mail strikes

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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More than one million letters may never be delivered and tens of millions more will take weeks because of postal strikes, union leaders have warned.

It has been revealed that a large distribution centre in Dartford, East London, has 'mail mountains' that have been housed for two weeks in cages that are so full they cannot be closed.

But postal workers say they will not tackle it unless they are paid overtime, which Royal Mail is refusing to do because it does not want to 'reward' the strikers.

Across the country there is a backlog of more than 30million stockpiled letters, parcels and bills. Union officials say it will take days to clear huge amounts of mail at centres in Birmingham, Peterborough, Warrington and Northampton.

The mail system is expected to be paralysed further next week when hundreds of Royal Mail drivers stop work.

The Communication Workers Union is also balloting 121,000 postal workers over plans to hold a national strike during the run-up to Christmas. The result will be announced on October 8.

More than 230 Royal Mail facilities have stopped work on at least one occasion over the past 12 weeks.

Some reports have claimed that Royal Mail has hired hundreds of agency workers to help clear the backlog, while scores of managers have been dispatched to a hotel in the North East to sort the mail.

A CWU spokesman said: 'There have been serious problems with mail stockpiling and it's still there. The fact that they're not offering overtime as some sort of punishment charter is ridiculous and we believe their use of agency staff to clear the backlog is illegal.'

Royal Mail disputes the size of the backlog, estimating it is nearer to nine million letters and parcels.

A spokesman said: 'We will deliver any mail that is left over from the strike action as quickly as possible.

'Strikes have affected some offices and we're using management volunteers to cope with this.'

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[Lounge Lizard]

"while scores of managers have been dispatched to a hotel in the North East to sort the mail." - I can just imagine it, letters in the bar, packets in the restaurant, parcels in the reception. But if the Daily Mail says they're there then it must be true.