Lynn Postal disruption looms with strike

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Thousands of homes and businesses will not receive mail this weekend after Lynn postal workers announced strike action.
Around 100 staff at the town's Austin Fields sorting office will walk out at 5.30pm during the late shift on Friday and leave the following two shifts early as well.

As a result, post is unlikely to be delivered on Saturday and rounds also look set to be disrupted on Monday.

Industrial action has been called following a long-running dispute between Royal Mail and members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) over pay and conditions as the company attempts to modernise.

Lynn workers are protesting about a change in working practice which they say will see them forced to take on extra delivery rounds with no extra money.

Area delivery representative Adam Oakes said vacant posts were not being filled, with existing workers having to pick up the slack at the risk of having their pay stopped if they do not finish all their rounds.

He said the new rounds were often at the other side of town which could delay postal deliveries long-term.

Royal Mail, however, maintains there is less post to deliver as a result of the economic downturn.

Strike action is also being taken in Peterborough, Boston and Skegness and the CWU is already balloting members at the Hunstanton office on possible industrial action there.

Mr Oakes said the union would also look at balloting offices in Swaffham and Wisbech, spelling potential post disruption across West Norfolk.

He added: "Strikes are a proportionate response to an employer which is completely out of control. Rather than running the business, Royal Mail's actions demonstrate they are intent on destroying it. We're not going to tolerate an employer which ignores its workforce, ignores the union and ignores its customers."

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "We continue to work extremely hard to make the union's leadership realise the scale and urgency of the changes we need to make - but having met the union more than 50 times in recent months, it is increasingly clear that the CWU refuses to believe that mail volumes are declining despite the clear evidence of this in the UK.

"We again condemn the CWU for striking locally over much-needed modernisation and change which has already been successfully implemented by our people in the majority of offices around the UK and is working well. The union claims to support modernisation, yet acts to destroy it."

The Lynn office has around 104 workers and 99 are thought to be CWU members.