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SCOTS are facing a postal delivery lottery due to staff shortages with “failures” expected this Christmas, the union representing staff has warned.
Some places in Scotland are already not having mail and parcels delivered for almost a week.
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Unattractive working conditions and changes to working practices have all contributed to a growing shortage of postmen and women.
The claims have been made in the Sunday Post by Craig Anderson from the Communication Workers Union.
He said that “every” postcode in the country will be affected by staff shortages in the run-up to Christmas.
He added: “In Sighthill they didn’t get mail for ten days because the postman took his annual leave and his duty wasn’t covered.
“There are structural issues right across the network meaning that it could be anywhere on any particular day or week that has a hotspot.
“The system is overstretched and understaffed.
“Staff who started after the bargaining agreement in 2022/23 receive 20 per cent less pay than longer serving staff and this means many staff leave soon after joining.
“We are expecting there is going to be failures this Christmas, which breaks the heart of postal workers.”
Despite strict regulation targets Royal Mail’s most recent quarterly figures showed that just 79.1 per cent was delivered on time.
The service was fined £5.6million in 2022 by Ofcom for missing delivery targets.
A spokesperson for Royal Mail said: “In Glasgow where these issues were raised, we have investigated and can confirm, as of this week, all deliveries are arriving as intended.
“There has been recent disruption caused by vacancies and staff absence at the delivery office.
“However, we have introduced measures to tackle any delays.”
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