More posties sent to delivery office

[johnnyp]

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/371627 ... ry_office/
More posties sent to delivery office
6:49pm Tuesday 30th September 2008

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By George Hamilton »

Extra postmen are being draftaed into a Royal Mail office which was forced to close because of a lack of staff.

Customers were left fuming outside the East Oxford delivery office in Ledgers Close, Littlemore, last month when staff shortages meant the depot was not open for a whole Saturday morning for pick-ups.

Royal Mail apologised for the ‘one-off’ incident, which meant customers could not get concert tickets for performances in London or collect academic books.

Today the company announced plans to take on new workers and transfer four more to the delivery office — but denied it was because of the temporary closure.

The recruitment drive will add at least 14 postmen — part-time — to the office, which a company spokesman said would ensure the office operated efficiently. However he refused to say how many other vacancies there were.

Customers who had to wait for their mail have welcomed news of the recruitment drive. But the sentiment was not shared by the Communication Workers Union, which represents staff at the site.

Bob Cullen, area processing representative for the union, described the move as too little too late.

He said: "The running of Ledgers Close is abysmal. They have left too many vacancies for too long. I would describe the running of the East Oxford office in Ledger’s Close as shambolic — and all the others in Oxfordshire as not far behind."

Another employee, who did not want to be named, said long-standing workers were resigning and being replaced by agency staff.

A spokesman for Royal Mail admitted the office had been understaffed recently, but insisted all mail due for delivery was still being delivered.

He would not confirm how long the office had been understaffed, or by how many people. He also admitted a worker at the office had been sacked after a mailbag was stolen while left un- attended on a round in Blackbird Leys. The employee was dismissed for failing to follow guidelines on security of mail and the bag was recovered and all mail delivered, he said.

The spokesman also refuted the allegations about the quality of agency staff, who he said had been vetted and accounted for eight of the 130 people employed at the office.

He said: "There has been no noticeable increase in terms of staff resignations over the last few months. There has been no repetition of the temporary closure of the inquiry office since the unfortunate incident two weeks ago."

Lorraine French,52, from Cratlandsc Close in Stadhampton, who was among the customers could not get her mail when the office closed temporarily, said: "It is about time. If it means people will get their mail when they need, it it is very good news."

[norbert]

Blackbird Leys is a rough estate - not a good idea to leave a bag unattended - makes me laugh all this stuff about cassies and agency staff - first it's no more then RM revert to their permanent panic mode - most of it they bring it on themselves .

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Things is Bob Cullen, wrongfully in my opinion, has a bad reputation among the local population. Apparently its all his fault that his unit kept going on strike because they were overworked. A lot of locals posted comments in the local rag saying they should be happy that they have a job and should go back to work. Looks like when they are affected personally they change their minds and start agreeing with him.

[smokerjim]

Things is Bob Cullen, wrongfully in my opinion, has a bad reputation among the local population. Apparently its all his fault that his unit kept going on strike because they were overworked. A lot of locals posted comments in the local rag saying they should be happy that they have a job and should go back to work. Looks like when they are affected personally they change their minds and start agreeing with him.

Always the same though isn't it? "As long as I get my letters today, why should I care?" What the public need to wake up to is to ask "How will I get my letters tomorrow?" - we all ask that question, but our voice isn't loud enough for RM.