Bishop’s Stortford postie apologises to customers but says strike is about changes to working conditions which are affecting the service

The ongoing dispute between Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) has led to severe disruption to the postal service in the run-up to Christmas – but a Bishop’s Stortford postie wanted to stress to long-suffering customers that it was not just about money.

The employee, who declined to be named, contacted the Indie to highlight how a revision of delivery rounds in the Stortford area had led to 90% of them not being completed and piles of letters being left at the South Street sorting office.

He said the revision, brought in at the start of the year, meant rounds had been extended with no change to workers’ hours.

“A computer told us they could extend the rounds and put more houses on them. Now 90% of rounds aren’t being completed,” he claimed.

He also claimed the company was not interested in letters in busy periods, only parcels, a claim denied by Royal Mail. “We’ve been told not to do letters, just to do the parcels,” he said.

The worker’s claims follow similar issues highlighted by other posties who contacted the Indie in October to highlight difficult working conditions and to accuse management of incompetence.

The CWU – which has 110,000 members in Royal Mail – has been in dispute with management for months over pay and conditions and announced a series of walk-outs starting on December 1, and including this Friday (Dec 23) and Christmas Eve.

When the worker spoke to the Indie he said there were already two days of Stortford customers’ mail sitting in the sorting office, and when workers’ returned from their latest strike action they would be confronted with five days’ worth.

He said he was frustrated to have to take action but felt there was little choice due to the management. “It’s disgusting and I can only apologise to our customers, who I feel sorry for,” he said.

Royal Mail brought forward the last Christmas posting dates, with second-class mail December 12 instead of the 19th and first class December 16 rather than the 21st.

The union wants a pay rise for members that matches the rising cost of living and has accused management of trying to “force through thousands of compulsory redundancies”.

Talks between the union and management have broken down, with the company stating its latest offer of a 9% pay deal over 18 months and “a number of other concessions to terms and agreements” was their “best and final offer”.

The postie said he knew of five colleagues who had quit because of the working conditions, adding if he was offered redundancy he would take it.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “While the vast majority of mail is delivered safely and on time, we are aware of some delays recently in the local area.

“We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused and are taking steps to prevent any recurrence of these problems. On occasions when any particular delivery route has experienced delays, we have rotated deliveries to prioritise that route the next day so that no customers should experience delays for more than one day.

“We also do not operate a policy of prioritising parcels. We regularly remind colleagues that the delivery, collection and processing of letters and parcels should be treated with equal importance.”

In response to the continuing industrial dispute, the spokesperson added: “We are proud to have the best pay and conditions in our industry. In an industry dominated by the ‘gig economy’, insecure work and low pay, our model sets us apart and we want to preserve it.

“Despite losing more than £1million a day, we have made a best and final pay offer worth up to 9%. Strike action has already cost our people £1,000 each and is putting more jobs at risk. The money allocated to the pay deal should be going to our people, but it risks being eaten away by the costs of further strike action.

“We once again urge the CWU to call off strike action. We remain available to meet to discuss our best and final offer.”