Union warns of ‘mail mountain’

11:06am Saturday 4th August 2007

A SERIES of further postal strikes in York could result in a backlog of mountains of mail, containing tens of thousands of items of post, according to a union official.

Unless Royal Mail commits to "a programme of intensive negotiations" with the Communication Workers Union (CWU), members will strike at both the Leeman Road and Birch Park delivery offices.

Postal workers in York are set to strike a total of four times in the next few weeks in a bid to secure a settlement from Royal Mail over terms and conditions.

John Thompson, branch secretary for York and District Amalgamated CWU, said there could be a backlog of mail.

He said: "It will come to breaking point at some stage if it's not resolved. The strikes will continue to cause a backlog in York.

"The longer the strike continues, the worse the backlog will get."

But he said that because of the strategic nature of the industrial action, which has taken place across the country, the backlog would never stretch back further than a few days.

Mr Thompson said the strikes will mean less mail than usual will be delivered to all areas of York, albeit it on different days.

A spokesman for Royal Mail said: "Inevitably there will be backlogs of mail as and when particular sites are hit but we are putting resources in place as best we are able to, to minimise the impact of that and deliver any backlog as soon as possible.

"There will be mail delays whilst the strike action is continuing, but we are doing everything we can to mitigate that."

He said it was difficult to say exactly what the impact will be until members go out on strike - as some offices might decide not to strike on a particular day.

He said the company was working through the backlog, that it did not go back as far as weeks, and that he understood it was not building up in York.

In its latest statement about the strike, Royal Mail said: "The union is again ignoring the harsh commercial reality of a market that's open to full competition, and they are not facing up to the urgent and absolute need to modernise Royal Mail at a pace to ensure it competes successfully against rival operators and other communications media, including the internet."

CWU members have already staged five strikes in the last month or so.

What will happen next in the Royal Mail dispute

As part of four postal strikes, union members at Leeman Road are set to walk out for 24 hours on Thursday and Friday, as well as on the following Wednesday and Thursday.

Local Communication Workers Union representative John Thompson said this would mean people in more central areas of York, such as Dringhouses and Acomb, will receive a limited amount of mail on Friday and the following Thursday.

Postal workers at Birch Park, off Huntington Road, are preparing themselves for two 24-hour strikes, on Friday and Saturday, and on the following Thursday and Friday.

People in more outlying areas of the city, such as Huntington and Heworth, are also expected to receive less mail, next Saturday and the following Friday.