Piles of letters are being left behind in some Royal Mail delivery offices as staff struggle with higher workloads, i has learned.
Leaked photographs, obtained by i, show letters and parcels crammed into sorting frames at the end of the day, showing delivery workers have been unable to deliver all their allocated mail successfully.
The images suggest that the Universal Service Obligation, which requires Royal Mail to deliver letters to every address in the UK six days a week, is not always being met. The company is also obliged to deliver parcels five days a week under the regulations.
Meanwhile, one postal worker based in the south-west of England, who asked to remain anonymous, claimed that parcels are still being prioritised over letters at some delivery offices. They said the prioritisation of parcels was “still the underlying unwritten rule”.
Before Christmas, Royal Mail workers alleged that their bosses had told them to prioritise parcels over letters, but the company has repeatedly denied the claims.
Royal Mail told i it does not operate a policy of prioritising parcels but that “at particularly busy times”, including after strike days, it may focus on clearing parcels to free up space. It said sometimes there are delays to letter deliveries due to “high levels of sick absence” and “resourcing” issues.
Evelyn Taylor-Williams, 42, from Gravesend, Kent, has not received an important letter detailing how she must prepare for an upcoming heart operation, leaving her “extremely stressed” and “frustrated”.
The mother-of-three said she has repeatedly called the hospital to find out more information about her surgery but has been unable to get through to the right person due to it being “overstretched”.
On Thursday, thousands of postal workers voted in favour of more strikes in the long-running dispute over pay. More than 95 per cent of staff who voted in the ballot wanted strike action, said the Communication Workers Union (CWU). The union has not announced any strike dates yet.
‘I’m in the dark about my operation because I haven’t received my post’
Evelyn Taylor-Williams is due to have heart surgery this week (Photo: Supplied)
Mother-of-three Evelyn Taylor-Williams, 42, from Gravesend, Kent, was left “extremely stressed” after failing to receive her hospital admission letter with instructions on how to prepare for a heart operation.
Speaking to i on Wednesday, six days before the operation, she said: “I have three autistic children and I’ve made provisions for them to be taken care of. I’ve been waiting on this admissions letter and I called the hospital last week and they said that they’ll send it and I’m still waiting. My surgery is on Monday.
“They’ve confirmed that I’m booked in but I don’t know what they want from me because I’m on medication. I don’t know whether to keep taking it. Stop taking it. I don’t know what to do because the instructions are in the admissions letter.
“I’m being kept in the dark because I haven’t got my post.”
She added: “I’m really worried. I’ve been waiting a long time for this surgery. I’m not having heart surgery for the fun of it. I need it.”
After i contacted the hospital, Ms Taylor-Williams was given all the information she needed.
A source who works at a delivery office in the south-west claimed that additional bundles of mail are being divided between employees, who already have their own bundle to deliver.
They said: “On top of your own delivery, you’ve got another row and a bit to do. On a quiet day, you might be able to do that. But when it comes to a busy day, that’s not necessarily being completed.
“Either people aren’t taking all of the post out with them because they know they’re not going to get it done. Or they’re taking it out and they’re bringing some of it back.”
They added: “We are, by law, supposed to deliver to every address in the country six days a week, and we are not doing that and that is happening across the country.”
Additional bundles of mail are being divided between employees who already have their own bundle to deliver (Photo: Supplied)
Each day, a postal worker is given a bundle of letters and parcels to deliver, known as a “walk”. Last Wednesday, 30 walks failed at the sorting office in the south-west, meaning that not all the mail that should have been was delivered.
The failure of a walk is a “regular occurrence” with another 35 failing on Thursday, while 53 walks failed on a particularly busy day last month, the source told i.
Asked why this was happening, they suggested it was down to understaffing: “In our particular office, we’ve got so many vacancies. People haven’t been replaced when they’ve left, either they’ve retired or people have just decided to leave.”
In response, Royal Mail said it advertises vacancies for postal workers on its website.
Another postal worker, based in Cornwall, said Royal Mail has been adding a small bundle of letters and parcels to each employee’s workload.
They said: “They’re breaking some rounds up into little sections and everyone in the office has to take a little bit of that round as extra as well as their duty. So it can be quite stressful.”
This practice is either referred to as “lapsing” or “extra”, and while it has always happened, the postal worker claimed Royal Mail is currently “ramping it up”. “We’re doing more lapsing than we ever have done,” they said.
They added that in the past, postal workers could finish their round and go home, but now they have to work throughout their allocated time slot.
The employee, who has worked for Royal Mail for 13 years, told i: “They’re making sure that we are working to time and there are posties that are failing parts of their round because they can’t complete in the time slot they’ve been given. They’re bringing mail back. They’re tightening the belt on us to try and squeeze as much as they can in a lot of time that they’ve given us.”
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “Overtime continues to be available to colleagues when it is required, depending on our workload at any given time. On occasions when a particular local delivery route has experienced delays, we sometimes rotate deliveries to prioritise that route the next day, so that no customers should experience delays for more than one day.”
The company lists local delays on its website, saying that while it aims to deliver to all addresses six days a week, this “may temporarily not be possible due to local issues such as high levels of sick absence, resourcing, or other local factors”.
The spokesperson added: “Over the last 10 years, the number of addresses we deliver to has grown by more than two million and many postmen and women’s routes have not been revised in this time. This can mean that some routes can be an hour or two longer than others, for example where new housing developments have been built.
“Jointly with our trade unions, we have revised routes throughout the country to ensure they are fairer and reflect the growth in addresses and parcel deliveries, and this is an ongoing process. This has had no impact on the quality of service received by our customers.”
Addressing allegations that the company deprioritises letters, they said: “Royal Mail does 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.
“Due to the amount of space they take up, parcels can restrict the movement of both people and mail in our offices, leading to health and safety issues and delays to other mail. At particularly busy times, such as in the recovery days after a strike, we may occasionally at a local level clear parcels to free up space and address health and safety concerns so that we can keep all mail – including letters – moving efficiently through our network.”
In response to the strikes, they said: “Even the threat of more strike action by the CWU means more customers will switch their parcel business to our competitors. We remain committed to getting around the table with the CWU, resolving this dispute and agreeing a pay and change deal for our people.
“Should the CWU announce further strike action, we have plans to minimise disruption and get our services back to normal as soon as possible to keep people, businesses and the country connected.”
They urged the CWU to “seriously consider our best and final pay offer and to work with us to transform Royal Mail and secure its future”.
