Post backlog 'should be cleared this week

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.wimbledonguardian.co.uk/news ... s_week.php

Despite an agreement made between Royal Mail and workers at Streatham Delivery Office last week, postmen are still unhappy with the situation there.

Last week the Streatham Guardian revealed how up to a million letters and parcels were stuck at the Prentis Road office, which serves the whole SW16 postcode, since official and wildcat strikes ended last month.

On Friday a deal between Royal Mail and Communication Worker's Union (CWU) was reached, putting an overtime structure in place for existing staff and bringing in extra resources to help clear the huge backlog.

But the workers still appear to be unhappy with the situation. On Monday one postman said workers trying to cope with the excess mail were off sick with stress and that agency staff drafted in the shift it did not have a clue what to do but were being paid nearly three times more than regular workers.

He also said lorries full of post were being turned away from the office due to lack of space and predicted the backlog will only clear in January.

But Greg Charles, branch secretary of south-west London CWU, said it was too soon for workers to feel effects of the deal and said the situation should be back to normal in a couple of week's time. "The deal was very good and people are a lot happier," he insisted.
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"Now an agreement has been reached, it is essential that both sides implement it," said Streatham MP Keith Hill. "There's no excuse - the level of service must now return to the level that customers expect and the backlog be cleared forthwith."

A Royal Mail spokesman said he hoped backlogs would be cleared by the end of this week. "Streatham had extra backlogs of mail because of unofficial industrial action and strained industrial relations," he said. "The nearby mail centre at Nine Elms has been used for storage of excess while the remaining backlogs are cleared in the order they were received."

9:24am today