MP learns of postman's lot on sorting office visit

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http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/latest/MP-l ... 3615356.jp

AN MP visited a postal sorting office on the busiest day of the year to find out for himself how Christmas cards get delivered.
Havant MP David Willetts was astonished by the number of letters and cards postal workers have to sort and deliver when he visited the Royal Mail sorting office in East Street.

As well as finding out about how postal staff work day-to-day he had a chat with them about their pay and pensions concerns.

'It's obviously a really busy time of year and we depend on the postmen to keep all these Christmas cards delivered,' he said.

'The day I went was the busiest day of the year and there was a very hard-working atmosphere in there.

'I've always been keen to know how the postal system works and they showed me how it's done.'

The Tory MP pointed out that t
he postman actually sorts the mail for his area himself before delivering it, and he said he could see the satisfaction in the job.

'A bit of me likes sorting things out,' he said. 'I can see a deep satisfaction in having a pile of letters and getting them into order.'

Mr Willetts said it was also useful to be able to speak to the postal staff about their recent concerns over working conditions.

'Another important reason to visit is there has been this industrial action and a lot of postmen wrote to me during it.

'Although I don't support industrial action I do think they have a genuine worry, especially about the state of their pensions.'

During the visit, on December 14, Mr Willetts got to meet the postman who delivers to his home in West Street.

And he was able to pick up his post there and then – rather than having to wait for it to be dropped through his letterbox.

The full article contains 325 words and appears in NS-City newspaper.
Last Updated: 22 December 2007 10:12 AM