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POSTAL workers in Shetland are set to see their distant islands allowance more than double as part of a “significant victory”.
The Communications Workers Union (CWU) said posties in Shetland would receive £2,500 per annum, up from £1,167, after negotiations with Royal Mail.
It comes a week after Northern Isles politicians Beatrice Wishart and Alistair Carmichael pledged to “turn up the heat” on Royal Mail to tackle long-standing issues of staff retention and recruitment.
The CWU said the uplift was “long-overdue” and followed a “sustained” campaign of highlighting issues with the Shetland service to Royal Mail.
The union said it had consistently warned Royal Mail that “severe understaffing is placing unsustainable pressure on remaining employees and disrupting the service that the public and local businesses rightly expect”.
The mail arrives at Belmont, Unst. photo: Royal Mail
It stressed that though this was an important win, it was only a first step to improving the postal service and conditions for workers in the isles.
CWU Scotland secretary Craig Anderson said a pay increase of this scale would “help make roles on the islands more competitive”, as well as recognise the extra costs and challenges faced by its members in Shetland.
“It begins to address the recruitment and retention crisis that has left colleagues overworked and services under strain,” he added.
“This uplift helps, but greater investment is needed in the basics of a good postal service: safe, fit-for-purpose premises, a properly maintained fleet of vans and modern equipment to allow staff can do their jobs safely and efficiently.
“Without that, recruitment and retention problems will persist.”
Anderson said the issues were not isolated to Shetland, and were prevalent among many of Scotland’s rural and island communities.
“The CWU will be continuing the fight to see meaningful action to protect our postal services and support our posties to get secure decent pay and have safe places to work across all Royal Mail workplaces in Scotland,” he added.
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MP Carmichael claimed last week Royal Mail had shown a lack of effort in tackling concerns over staffing in Shetland and said a “public campaign” was now needed.
In response a spokesperson for Royal Mail said recruitment and retention in Shetland remain challenging due to “limited affordable housing and low unemployment”.
They added that Royal Mail “remains fully committed to our Universal Service Obligation and to serving rural, remote and island communities across Scotland”, adding that it has a “recruitment campaign ongoing and offer retention bonuses”
At a virtual roundtable in May, it was said that postal staff were leaving “in droves” due to low pay and pressured working conditions.
The Lerwick sorting office was also described as “antiquated” and “out of date”.
It was also said at the time that one quarter of postie jobs in Shetland were vacant.
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