MP warns over later delivery of Mail - every day!
July 30, 2007 12:00 AM
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Businesses in Colchester face a massive impact on their work patterns with a decision by the Royal Mail to delay delivering post by up to 90 minutes from what happens at the moment.
And residents will also not get their mail until later in the day.
The warning was made today by the town's MP Bob Russell after he met representatives of the Union of Communication Workers who are concerned that the unilateral decision by management to impose a later start time for postal workers will have a detrimental knock-on effect to those to whom they deliver mail.
From 13th August, the 160 workers at the Eastgates Delivery Office in Colchester will clock on at 6.15am - 75 minutes later than they do at the moment.
This will result in the whole of the working day being operated 75 minutes to 90 minutes later than currently, with deliveries to businesses and residential properties receiving their mail later than they currently do.
Mr Russell said: "I think for most residents getting their letters an hour or two later will not be too serious, perhaps annoying if you are waiting for an important letter, but for businesses a delay of up to 90 minutes or so could have a massive impact on their operations.
"Businesses need to get their mail as early as possible in order to process orders and the like. For some, the delay - on a permanent basis - in dealing with the mail will have a huge impact on how they operate their business."
He added that his own office depended on getting the mail as early as possible. "I am not processing business orders, but I know how important it is for my daily work to have the post first thing in the morning."
Mr Russell said he was anxious that people did not blame the postal workers for the later delivery. "This is a decision by management, against the wishes of the workforce who believe that the quality of the service they provide to the general public will suffer by the imposition of a later starting time to their working day."
Union officials say that the later starting time would not mean a shorter working day for postal workers, but in due course will lead to cuts in wages when pay protection measures in their current contract of employment comes to an end during the next three years depending on an individual's period of service.
Workers face a wage cut of £13 a week under the new arrangements.
Mr Russell is writing to the Government Minister responsible for the Royal Mail, Mr John Hutton MP, to ask that he intervenes to seek a deferment in the plans to impose the new working arrangements on 13th August to enable talks to be held with the Union of Communication Workers.
He added: "There has been no negotiation. This is something which has been imposed on the workforce. This is not an acceptable state of affairs."
Mr Russell said that he is opposed to Government measures which will see an end to the historic universal postal system which had served the country well.
"There are some things where competition does not result in a better service for the consumer, and breaking up Royal Mail is a classic case. What we will end up with will be a free-for-all with a loss of a comprehensive service of benefit to the whole community."
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