Postal workers plan protest march through Herne Bay

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Postal workers plan protest march through Herne Bay over delivery office closures http://www.kentnews.co.uk/news/postal_w ... s_1_932816" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Angry postal workers have taken to the streets for the second weekend in a row as they march against the Royal Mail’s plans to close the Herne Bay and Whitstable delivery offices

Angry postal workers are expected to turn out in force as the Communications Workers Unions (CWU) march through the streets for the second consecutive weekend.

Royal Mail staff and concerned residents will take to the streets of Herne Bay to protest against the planned closure of the town’s delivery office.

This comes after the previous weekend saw union members take to streets in Whitstable as modernisation plans also threaten the delivery office there.

David Banbury, the Kent Invicta branch secretary for the CWU, said: “We have these marches in Whitstable and Herne Bay because the delivery offices are set to close and be moved to Canterbury city centre.

“The move will impact on the environment as the public will have to travel to Canterbury city centre to collect undelivered mail, and the parking situation there is difficult.

“The move will add one million to one and a half million miles of traffic per year.

“It will also impact on jobs; Royal Mail has not taken into account the travelling costs and times of the staff.

“They will lose a hours of working time as employees travel to and from Canterbury, and that will cost Royal Mail about £276,000 per year.”

The move comes as part of a £70 million investment programme by Royal Mail to modernise and to improve the efficiency of the business.

The main element of the programme will be a new super sorting office in Rochester, which is expected to be open by 2012.

This will replace sorting offices in Canterbury, Dartford, Tonbridge and Maidstone.

As these sites transfer to the new Rochester site, some of the delivery offices, including those in Whitstable and Herne Bay will move to the Canterbury site.

Mr Banbury said: “The have free space in the Canterbury Rail centre and this is an excuse for them to use it.

“It is just cost cutting and not part of modernisation and the service will not be better.

“We want to ensure the public have a proper service and ensure our members don’t lose out too.

“We have agreed to modernisation, but Royal Mail is not developing the service it should.”

Tom Willis, Royal Mail’s south east England regional operations director, said: “We are investing £70 million in a new flagship mail centre in Rochester and reviewing our delivery operations across Kent to improve efficiency, give better service and value to customers and provide our people with a more modern working environment.

“We are currently talking to our people about transferring these delivery operations to our current mail centres in Dartford, Canterbury and Tonbridge.

“No dates for these transfers have been confirmed.

“None of these operations will move before 2012.

“These interests of our customers will be considered as a top priority during these operational changes, which will not take place before early 2012.

“Such considerations will also include how customers can collect undelivered mail.”

Once the new Rochester sorting office is up and running, it is anticipated that across the county , 400 fewer jobs will be required, falling to 3,300.

Mr Willis added: “The CWU and CMA Unite unions are in support of the building of a new mail centre in Rochester and we continue to work together to help our employees through this change.”

[Lounge Lizard]

No chance of getting Royal Mail to change their mind but there's probably not much else to do in Herne Bay of a weekend.

[Phantom]

CWU HQ doing nothing again! Time to leave the cwu and join another union.