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New pictures appear to show the scale of the postal backlog as Royal Mail workers once again walked out, with hundreds of trolley loads of undelivered Christmas post spilling out of a sorting office in Bristol.
According to one Royal Mail worker, undelivered packages and letters have been piling up at the site “for over two weeks”.
Royal Mail has disputed claims of a build-up and said the photos actually show thousands of parcels moving through the centre to be processed.
i previously revealed a shocking build-up of post at sorting offices during the first wave of strikes last week, with parcels crammed together, leaving little space for employees to walk around. Postal workers at the time said some offices are so full that packages were being stored in lorries and trailers outside.
Now, a series of aerial photos show just that – a sea of metal trolleys filled with bags of mail waiting to be sorted and delivered in huge lines outside Bristol Mail Centre, suggesting the internal floor space is now full.
On Wednesday, members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) took industrial action for the fourth time this month in a long-running dispute with Royal Mail over pay and conditions.
One Royal Mail worker, who wished to remain anonymous, told i the mountains of mail at the Bristol centre in Filton have been building up for more than two weeks.
“There’s about 600-700 yorks [the metal cages], some of the stuff has been out there for over two weeks in all wind and weathers,” they said.
Bristol was among areas in England blanketed in snow over the weekend.
“Some of it is packed in so tightly staff can’t get to it,” the worker said. Instead, staff have only been able to process the mail which has accumulated around the edges of the metal trolleys.
There have been reports staff at the centre have been told to bin, rather than process, flyers and promotional mail to prioritise Christmas parcels.
But many of the packages building up at the site have attracted the attention of rats and foxes, the worker claimed.
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A perfect storm of industrial action, the peak postal period and a ban on overtime are causing the build-up, i was told.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said the pictures showed a busy mail centre with thousands of parcels moving through its network.
“The site shown is processing 30,000 parcels an hour so volume moves very quickly through the centre and on to the next stage in its journey,” they said.
“When we are busy, especially as we recover from damaging strike action, we may have to use all space on site for the temporary storage of mail. This frees up space in the mail centre to ensure we can keep all mail moving.
“We are doing all we can to deliver Christmas for our customers and minimise the impact of damaging industrial action.
“The CWU is striking at our busiest time, holding Christmas to ransom for our customers, businesses and families across the country.”
The spokesperson said contingency plans were in place to minimise delays but added: “We cannot fully replace the daily efforts of our frontline workforce on days the CWU are taking strike action.”
Royal Mail said it made “a best and final pay offer worth up to 9 per cent over 18 months” three weeks ago.
“Instead of working with us to agree on changes required to fund that offer and get pay into our posties’ pockets, the CWU has announced plans to ballot in the New Year for further strike action,” the Royal Mail spokesperson added.
“Their misguided belief that further industrial action – in a business already losing more than £1 million a day – will result in an improved pay offer is misleading its members and risking their long-term job security.”
But Kevin Beazer, CWU’s South West regional secretary, told i the industrial action was about more than just a pay rise.
He said: “Workers are under the kosh and worried about their jobs. This is about terms and conditions.
“If this was just about pay it would have been sorted out ages ago.”
The union wants a back-dated pay deal of nine per cent over 18 months, a long-term job security commitment from Royal Mail and negotiations on the future direction of the firm.
Aside from today’s walkout, there have already been strikes on the 1, 9, 11 December and more are scheduled for 15, 23 and 24 December.
Royal Mail brought forward this year’s final Christmas posting dates as a result, with the final date for sending 1st class post this Friday, 16 December.
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