Pensioners bid to force U-turn in sorting office closures

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Pensioners bid to force U-turn in Royal Mail sorting office closures

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Pensioner power is being used to try to persuade Royal Mail to reconsider closing three delivery offices.

Bradford and District Older People’s Alliance (BOPA) has raised a petition against the closure of the offices in Shipley, Bingley and Bradford West at Thornton saying the closures decision – made without any public consultation – had caused “outrage” among its members .

The alliance says the Royal Mail’s plans to move operations to Inkersley Road, near Forster Square Retail Park in Bradford city centre, will impact on the lives of older people and other vulnerable groups across the district.

BOPA development manager Julie Lintern said the group took up the campaign after its members expressed concern.

She said: “We are doing it in response to concerns of older people – but obviously it’s not just going to affect older people, there’s a lot of vulnerable people that will be affected and I think it needs to be seen as being more than an inconvenience.

“The fact they haven’t seen the need to consult with people has caused quite a lot of outrage.

“It’s not just the travelling. If you have got a package you have then got to get it home again and if you’ve gone in on a bus it is a safety issue as well.

“I don’t think it’s been really well thought out.

“From the comments we have received back it is obvious they are a competitor in the market place and this doesn’t seem to be serving them well in a business sense – people are wanting to take their business elsewhere.”

Royal Mail has said the move will take place this summer as part of the company’s extensive modernisation programme, which it described as “one of the biggest transformations in UK industry”.

Royal Mail spokesman James Eadie said it needed to respond to the huge growth in electronic communications and the 30 per cent decline in UK mail volumes in the last five years.

He said: “We are in the early planning stage for the move and have shared our plans with our people. We will continue to work with them and the union on these changes “We have a very strong track record of managing change.

“There will not be compulsory redundancies as a result of this move. We will also – in line with our business policy – reimburse our staff for any extra mileage incurred by the changes in their place of work.

“Royal Mail appreciates that any moves will impact on customers in the affected areas.

“Our planning activities always consider how we can best protect and serve the interest of our customers.

“Almost no other company has daily contact with its customers in the way Royal Mail does and so we wish to continue providing consistent and high-quality services to our customers in the Bingley, Shipley and Bradford West area and across the UK.

“We are committed to keeping our staff and customers informed of future developments.”

[Lounge Lizard]

"Pensioner power" - who do these old fogies think they are ?
No longer working for a living, just drawing a regular hefty pension, and they expect everything to revolve around them.
Not much of an example for today's youth.