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Royal Mail workers in Coventry walked out on strike today - and warned there could be further industrial action if talks fail to settle their dispute with bosses.
Royal Mail staff at the Coventry North Delivery Office, off the A444 in Foleshill, staged 24-hour stoppage from Tuesday morning in an ongoing dispute over working hours.
Pickets were set up at the depot as deliveries to thousands of homes were disrupted.
The Communication Workers’ Union claimed none of the site’s 160 staff turned up for work - as far as they were aware.
Union officials said they were confident negotiations would move forward - but they had not ruled out the possibility of further industrial action if talks failed to progress.
Neil Robinson, CWU local branch secretary, who was at the picket, said: “It’s gone very well. No one turned up to work, as far as the union’s aware.
“We want managers to stop pressurising workers into doing longer hours and working beyond what they are called to do. I am hopeful the strike will lead to a resolution as soon as possible.”
Mr Robinson said they would aim to take action short of a strike in future if the dispute wasn't settled.
CWU pickets at the Royal Mail's Coventry North delivery depot in Foleshill CWU pickets at the Royal Mail's Coventry North delivery depot in Foleshill
He said: “We are sorry that we have had to take this action. We want deliveries to go back to normal.”
Mick Kavanagh, leader of Coventry CWU, said: “We are not going to rule out the possibility of further action but we hope we can reach a resolution without the need for action.”
Royal Mail apologised to customers for disruption to mail deliveries and said contingency measures were in place as the firm aims to deliver all Special Delivery items, take some mail out on delivery rounds and respond to customers calling into the enquiry office to pick up undelivered parcels.
Paul Whitehouse, Royal Mail delivery director, said: “We are disappointed that today’s strike has gone ahead as Royal Mail is fully committed to the process of trying to resolve the concerns of postal workers based in Coventry North Delivery Office by continuing to follow the national jointly agreed framework with the Communication Workers’ Union.
''We remain hopeful that these issues can be resolved locally.
"This strike goes against the spirit of the talks we have been having and the progress we are making to resolve the issues and will only hurt our customers and damage our drive to build a strong and sustainable future for Royal Mail."
He added that customers with queries could contact customer services on 0845 7740 740.
