‘Postal workers are the back bone of our society and now they are being threatened with redundancy-this isn’t how we rebuild Britain,’ Jon Cruddas MP
A local post worker has spoken to the Havering Daily about the ongoing challenges Royal Mail staff are currently facing. “The morale is very low at the moment, it is the busiest time of the year for us but our working conditions are awful,” said the postie who did not wish to be named.
“We have been told that our Chief Executive has stopped all overtime and instead is calling in agency workers to do our work without any proper training. He has threatened staff with the sack and hasn’t even turned up for talks with the CWU and Acas. We are being portrayed as lazy, greedy people that are only interested in money when all posties want is a fair living wage and proper terms and conditions.
“We are also being told that we are going to be expected to start work earlier and finish later and that our contracts are going to be ripped up. Our jobs are also going to be seven days a week.
“People are being treated awfully and the work is not being done as it should be and letters going undelivered.
“This was a very good company that is now going to look bad.”
A spokesperson for Acas told the Havering Daily:”Acas talks between the CWU and Royal Mail are continuing.”
The Dagenham and Rainham MP Jon Cruddas has co signed a letter to the CEO of Royal Mail, Mr Cruddas told the Havering Daily:
“This week I co-signed a letter to the CEO of Royal Mail, demanding he get round the table with The Communication Workers Union after last Friday’s threats to make up to 10,000 Royal Mail workers redundant. Postal workers are the backbone of our society and helped keep the country moving through the pandemic. They support millions of people and our economy every single day, and instead of a decent day’s pay they are being threatened with redundancy. This isn’t how we rebuild Britain.
“Inflation is soaring, energy bills are financially crippling households, and wages have stagnated. This is all the result of political choice from a callous Conservative Government.
“As a Labour MP I have a duty to support working people fighting to defend their living standards in the middle of a cost of living crisis.”
A Royal Mail spokesperson told the Havering Daily: “Every item of mail is important to us. We are very sorry for any delays that our customers may have recently experienced locally. We are working hard to restore service levels to the standard that our customers expect. Anyone who has concerns over the delivery of their mail should contact the Royal Mail customer service team on 03457 740 740 or via the Royal Mail website http://www.royalmail.com.
“Overtime continues to be available to colleagues when it is required depending on our workload at any given time.”