UNION chiefs are in talks with Royal Mail bosses following Monday’s walkout by more than 100 workers at Crewe.
Staff at the Weston Road site downed tools shortly after 6am following a row over contract work.
They accused Royal Mail bosses of reneging on a deal after a QVC contract which had been transferred to Warrington to ease the Christmas workload at Crewe was not returned to Weston Road by last week’s agreed deadline.
One worker, who spoke during the walkout but asked not to be named, said many Crewe workers relied on that contract for their jobs.
“We had all the people in place ready to do it,” he said. “It never turned up.”
He said workers had demanded to speak to management.
“All management have said is ‘if you’re not back at work within five minutes then you should leave the building’. The people have walked themselves, nobody’s led a strike, people have just got so fed up,” he said.
“They see it as another smack in the teeth in trying to just close Crewe down quicker without any agreements.”
The Chronicle has seen a leaked memo referring to the QVC contract transfer which sparked the dispute.
The memo, which is signed by three managers and three union reps, agrees the transfer of the QVC contract from Crewe to Warrington “from Monday December 1, 2008, until Wednesday January 7, 2009, at the latest”.
Steve Wright, South Cheshire branch secretary of the Communication Workers’ Union, said: “They’ve reneged on an agreement that was verbal and in writing.”
Delivery representative Ollie Slinn said: “I think that if you sign an agreement then it’s binding.”
Staff returned to work at noon on Monday after being told the QVC contract would return to Crewe.
As The Chronicle went to press yesterday union leaders and bosses were thrashing out the details.
A Royal Mail spokesman said: “Around 125 of the postal workers at Crewe Mail Centre and Delivery Office took unofficial industrial action from 6.15 am until 12 noon.
“Royal Mail did everything possible to minimise disruption to service but some deliveries were affected and we apologise to customers for any inconvenience. We continue to talk to the union about operational changes as we do on a regular basis.”