POSTAL SERVICES CRIPPLED ACROSS CITY

[baldrick]

Mountain of mail piles up after strikes

By DOMINIC.TOBIN
@thelondonpaper.com

Millions of letters and parcels are stuck in London sorting offices,
with numbers set to rise because of more postal strikes.

The capital has already been hit by 10 walkouts this summer and
thousands of Royal Mail staff manned picket lines again today.

The 24-hour strike across the "vast majority" of delivery offices
in London is set to cripple services heading into the weekend.

Up to 20 million items of mail have been held up, claims the
Communication Workers Union, but Royal Mail says the true backlog
is more like 5 million.

When workers do return, the mountain of mail could take several
days to clear. Business leaders said cheques and correspondence
held up by the dispute could harm companies across the capital.

Sian Jones, from the CWU said: "There is an increasing backlog in
London, especially with mail waiting to be delivered and it is not
going to get any better unless Royal Mail sits down and talks to us."

Union members claim Royal Mail managers are cutting jobs and pay
without consultation, while imposing modernisation on staff.

"Conditions are intolerable," said Jones. "Royal Mail has abandoned
its approach of consulting with staff. There is a really nasty atmosphere.
Morale is low and stress and pressure are rising."

Further strikes at south-west London delivery offices will take place
tomorrow until Friday evening, leading to a nationwide strike by drivers
on Saturday.

Royal Mail accused the union of "political posturing".

Paul Tolhurst, Royal Mail's operations director, said: "We again urge the
CWU to call off its plans for further strikes and stop blocking change and
modernisation. It is actively opposing change on the ground."

thelondonpaper
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Wednesday 9 September 2009