Plymouth postal strike could cost the region £10 million

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Plymout ... z2dMEvr3Ro" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Plymouth postal strike could cost the region £10million says business leader

A POSTAL strike lasting two weeks could cost the region's economy up to £10 million pounds, according to a business leader.

Royal Mail workers who are part of the Communication Workers Union have voted to go on strike for two weeks from Monday September 9. It would see 500 members in the Plymouth area take "strategic action," according to the representative union.

A spokesman for the CWU said they had offered the Royal Mail "last-ditch talks" to work out a resolution. The union claimed their members were being "harassed and pressured" at work.

The Royal Mail was urging postal workers not to take industrial action as businesses voiced their own concerns.

Chairman of the Devon and Cornwall business council Tim Jones said the organisation had still not recovered from past strikes.
He said: "To strike would be shooting themselves in the foot. We are talking certainly about a loss of £10 million in terms of Devon and Cornwall businesses.

"And it is not the financial impact so much as the effect on small businesses and the vulnerable who rely on things coming through the post. It is the social as well as the economic impact."

The Plympton-based branded uniform company Cotton Frog said the strike would do the company "no favours."

Emily Wright, managing director, said: "We have stopped using Royal Mail in the last year because we cannot rely on them. We have started collecting our own post in the morning because otherwise we wouldn't receive it until the afternoon which is no good for a business.

"I feel for people in that sector who are low paid because it's not their fault, but the strike will do the company no favours."
Chris Webb, divisional representative for the CWU, defended the decision to strike. He said services would only get worse if the situation was not tackled now.

He said: "The main thing is about giving our members space to do their job without, what they feel, is harassment and pressure.
"Unless the company make a serious position change then we are on the brink of a Plymouth postal strike which is the biggest in its history.

"We realise that there will be damage done to our customers but with no action there will be even more damage happening to our members. It is death by a thousand cuts at the moment. No action will have far more consequences than any strike could."

Mr Webb said the union was braced for an "emotional" meeting with postal officials this Friday where they hope to thrash out a deal.
Royal Mail spokesman, Mike Norman, said any strike action would "hurt" customers.

"Royal Mail is fully committed to the process of trying to resolve concerns of postal workers based in Plymouth by continuing to follow the national jointly agreed framework with the Communication Workers Union," he said.

"We urge the CWU not to call our people out on strike action, which can only hurt our customers and damage our drive to build a strong and sustainable future for Royal Mail."

Do you back Plymouth postal workers who are planning a two-week strike?

[worktotime]

this is happening all over in delivery offices we should all be out not individual offices , come on cwu listen to your members no more talk time for action , well done to fight against the idiots running the company for there own personal bonuses.

[teesdale]

Is that a full 10/12 days per member or the press getting the wrong idea. Surely you would stretch out single days over a long period of time alongside other tactics. Two weeks in one go!

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Is that a full 10/12 days per member or the press getting the wrong idea. Surely you would stretch out single days over a long period of time alongside other tactics. Two weeks in one go!

I am guessing its the press being lazy and not explaining it fully.

http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... th#p583787" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; the sense I get from this article is that with 6 offices involved then the action will be 2 days per office spread over the 2 weeks.