News Update: Petition set up to save sorting office

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CAMPAIGNERS fighting to save 100 Royal Mail jobs are urging people to sign a petition to stop all Stoke-on-Trent mail being sorted in Wolverhampton.

Both online and hard copies of the petition have been made available after Royal Mail outlined plans to shut the Leek Road sorting office in Stoke by July.

All but 14 of the 80 distribution jobs at Stoke are to be retained, while all the processing posts – about 20 – will be axed.

Under Royal Mail's plans, items posted in North Staffordshire to be delivered to another address in the same area will still be taken to a base in the city after being collected from a post box. But existing Wolverhampton staff will drive to Stoke-on-Trent to pick up the post, get it sorted and then return it to the city, rather than Stoke workers doing the driving.

In 1997, protest rallies were held against the closure of the city's Mechanised Letter Office, which saw some of its services moved to Wolverhampton in 1999.

Ruth Selwood, who is married to a sorting office employee, has now launched a petition to urge Royal Mail to reconsider its latest decision.

She said: "In 1997, I feel that the very heart of the city was ripped out when these services were transferred.

"A lot of people lost their jobs.

"From a Royal Mail customer point of view, I have my own business and I rely on the post to receive cheques for payment.

"If they arrive in the morning I have time to get down to the bank, but I've noticed over the last 12 months that the postal service has got worse and worse, and sometimes letters don't arrive until 3pm.

"This is really inconvenient.

"I do not think Royal Mail should be allowed to move the sorting office to Wolverhampton.

"It is already a very poor service compared to what it used to be.

"It's a 75-mile round trip for the post to be taken from Stoke to Wolverhampton to be sorted, then brought all the way back again.

"This will cost more in fuel, and if there are any accidents on the motorway it will cause more delays to the post – it's ludicrous."

As well as the on-line petition, hard copies will be available at various locations in Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle.

One sorting office employee, who did not want to be named, said it was important for the public to support the campaign.

He said: "Stoke-on-Trent deserves its own sorting office. Since 1997 the service has suffered massively. People and businesses need it.

"If people want a first class service, they need to get behind the campaign and fight against Royal Mail's decision."

Andy Plant, Midlands branch secretary for the Communication Workers Union, said the union would be submitting alternative plans to Royal Mail's management this week.

He said: "Union officials are currently working on the facts and figures that will be used in the discussions.

"We have agreed to look at how many hours we use per week to do the job now, and how many would be left under Royal Mail's proposals.

"Then, we'll be able to start the negotiation process."