Staff at Royal Mail office in Newquay refuse to work over Covid safety concerns

Staff at a Royal Mail delivery office in Cornwall staged a walkout on Monday morning over coronavirus safety concerns.

Postal workers at Newquay delivery office refused to work for around 30 minutes until their concerns over safety in the workplace were addressed.

It’s believed the walkout took place at around 7.30am this morning. A spokesperson for the Royal Mail confirmed that staff were “away” for around half an hour while their concerns were being addressed.

A source told Cornwall Live: “There have been multiple positive coronavirus cases at the Newquay Royal Mail office and nothing has been cleaned in the office and no precautions are taken.

“At the moment the entire office with all postmen and women are stood outside in the yard refusing to work until the right precautions have been taken.”

A spokesperson for the Royal Mail confirmed that two postal workers had tested positive for the coronavirus and that an intensive clean of the site had taken place since with additional cleaning organised this morning.

They said: “Staff were away for around half an hour this morning, while the management addressed any concerns they had – and this had no effect on deliveries. They all returned to work.”

Royal Mail refuted claims that no precautions were being taken, adding: “Royal Mail takes the health and safety of its colleagues, Its customers and the local communities in which we operate very seriously. Two colleagues have tested positive for coronavirus at Newquay Delivery Office.

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“They are now recuperating at home and we wish them a speedy recovery. We have carried out an intensive clean of the site and have organised additional cleaning of key touchpoints and all communal areas this morning. We are keeping the CWU and colleagues updated. We are working hard to provide the most comprehensive service we are able to.”

The spokesperson also sought to reassure customers that stringent measures were in place to protect them, adding: “Throughout this crisis, every decision we make puts the health of our people and customers first. We have put in place a range of preventive measures to protect both our customers and our colleagues.

“We were the first UK company to put in place social-distancing measures in relation to parcel delivery. We pioneered contact-free delivery. We are temporarily not handing over our hand-held devices to customers to capture signatures.

“As well as encouraging good hand hygiene, standard ways of working have been revised to ensure that colleagues maintain appropriate social distancing at all times.

“All staff have been briefed about the social distancing measures jointly agreed by local management and the CWU. This has been supplemented with visible reminders such as posters and one-way floor markings”.