Mail chaos looms as posties hold ballot on strike action

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POSTAL workers at Edinburgh's main depot are threatening strike action in a move which would throw deliveries into chaos.
More than 170 workers at Royal Mail's Sighthill depot and their colleagues in Perth are taking part in a ballot over industrial action after a series of cost cutting measures, which union officials said could lead to job losses.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said the action was in response to "business plan savings" which management is trying to push through "against the wishes of staff".

Royal Mail said it had made "revisions" to the business which applied to collection drivers only, but insisted there would be no job losses.

The results of the ballot will not be known until later this month, and no decision has yet been made over whether staff will stage a 24-hour walkout.

A series of national strikes carried out by postal workers in 2007 resulted in nearly a fifth of all first class mail going undelivered in Edinburgh and the Lothians.

A spokeswoman for the CWU said: "We are expecting significant support for our position on this. We are expecting quite a big 'yes'.

"No decision has been made over what form the action will take, but potentially there could be quite an impact on collections and deliveries. But that's still a last resort and management will have plenty of opportunities to get round the table."

A Royal Mail spokesman said changes had already been implemented which would have no impact on customers.

He said: "Royal Mail is operating in a fiercely competitive market and in order to compete successfully we need to be as efficient as possible.

"To achieve this, Royal Mail recently made changes to its collections network in the Edinburgh area. These are logistical changes which have already been successfully implemented and which have not impacted on the service received by our customers.

"Royal Mail has a policy of making no compulsory redundancies. Nobody has lost their job as part of this reorganisation and nobody is being asked to do anything that is not part of their job.

"We will continue to talk to our people and the union to prevent unnecessary disruption and to ensure the best service possible is delivered to our customers."