Royal Mail postal deliveries in Highlands at 'breaking point', Communication Workers' Union warns
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Postal services in the Highlands are being pushed to breaking point, a union has warned.
The Communications Workers' Union, which represents postal workers, has warned that low staffing levels, the "all but halted" recruitment of new posties, and "far inferior" employment terms for would-be recruits are creating a perfect storm.
The chairwoman of the CWU's Highland AMAL Branch, Roz White, issued the stark warning after a local MP launched a survey of postal services in the area after they were contacted by unhappy constituents.
Drew Hendry, who represents Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, said complaints he had received included people receiving mail so late that they hadn't received notification of hospital appointments until after the date of their tests had already passed.
As well as causing inconvenience for people, such delays were also putting added pressure on the NHS at a time when the health service was facing staffing and recruitment pressures of its own.
After Mr Hendry launched a survey to gauge the severity of the problems, the Courier reached out to Royal Mail and local postal representatives for comment.
And the CWU's Ms White has highlighted what she claims is a worsening situation, with postal workers being left to do increasing workloads with less time and using infrastructure which is "minimally maintained" and nearing the end of its operational life.
She said: "The pressure posties are under is taking its toll. We are being handed unachievable workloads on an everyday basis, and expected to somehow muddle through.
"Our vans are minimally maintained, and many are well beyond their usual expected lifespan. Combined with the aftermath of an ongoing and lengthy national dispute in which management’s approach has been questionable (to be polite)... the levels of frustration and despair have, for many of our members, reached breaking point. Mental health issues throughout offices nationwide have soared. Many are leaving the business rather than continue under such conditions, and they are not being replaced."
She also highlighted concerns over "intimidation" of union representatives, both at a UK level and locally, claiming: "Among many other breaches of protocol and custom, across the whole of the UK local union reps have found themselves suspended or even dismissed, without any formal charges ever being levelled against them – including two in Inverness, a strategy described by one local politician as a 'strategy of intimidation'."
Ms White also warned that lower staffing levels meant that remaining staff were being asked to do longer postal routes within the same time period as their previous shorter ones, and that when staff are off, their usual duties may not be covered – leaving them with a backlog of work upon their return.
"Existing, established postal rounds have been modified, altered and usually lengthened to compensate for the reduced staff numbers – but the time allowed to complete them has not increased," she explained. "Thus your postie is expected to deliver more mail in effectively less time. Overtime is available but the posties are already pushed to the limit of exhaustion already, meaning extra work on top is not a viable option.
"Moreover, posties are regularly advised that their duty will not be covered on their day off and so will face double the workload on their return. Goodwill from posties has also been eroded by the actions of the company. Working times have been unilaterally altered, making the job impossible for many of our members who have outside pressures to accommodate such as childcare, etc."
She concluded by calling on Royal Mail's management to "restore full faith and investment" in its "universal service obligation" – a legal requirement that mail is given the same priority as parcels and other deliveries.
Her comments come after Mr Hendry warned last week that as well as missed medical appointments, mail delivery issues were also leaving some constituents waiting weeks for new bank cards.
And he added that despite receiving past assurances from Royal Mail management that the matter had been resolved, he was still being contacted by numerous constituents over the issues.
“Postal services are a lifeline for many of us, particularly here in the Highlands," he said. "Unfortunately, too many people are facing difficulties – my team and I have heard of people missing critical medical appointments or going weeks without a new bank card."
"Our posties are working harder than ever and should not be blamed for these issues. They are an essential part of our community, and I know we all appreciate their hard work."
Responding to his concerns last week, the Royal Mail admitted there had been delays. They said: “We are sorry to residents who have experienced delays in Inverness and the surrounding areas. Improving our quality of service is our top priority, and we are committed to restoring service levels to where our customers expect them to be.
“There have been minor delays to mail deliveries in the area and we would like to reassure residents that every effort is being made to keep these delays to a minimum. If a resident has mail and does not receive it on the day they expect, their route will be prioritised the following day.”
Ms White's full comments to the Courier were as follows:
"The Communication Workers' Union does not doubt that customers are experiencing everything they say they are – we are, after all, the front-line of the postal service and are in the firing line of current Royal Mail management policies.
"Staffing levels are indeed down: recruitment has all but halted, and the few new posties being taken on are being employed on far inferior terms and conditions than their longer-serving brethren. Few of them stay long enough to learn their rounds, let alone join the Union.
"Existing, established postal rounds have been modified, altered and usually lengthened to compensate for the reduced staff numbers – but the time allowed to complete them has not increased. Thus your postie is expected to deliver more mail in effectively less time - overtime is available but the posties are already pushed to the limit of exhaustion already, meaning extra work on top is not a viable option.
"Moreover, posties are regularly advised that their duty will not be covered on their day off and so will face double the workload on their return. Goodwill from posties has also been eroded by the actions of the company. Working times have been unilaterally altered, making the job impossible for many of our members who have outside pressures to accommodate such as childcare, etc.
"The pressure posties are under is taking its toll. We are being handed unachievable workloads on an everyday basis, and expected to somehow muddle through. Our vans are minimally maintained, and many are well beyond their usual expected lifespan. Combined with the aftermath of an ongoing and lengthy national dispute in which management’s approach has been questionable (to be polite; among many other breaches of protocol and custom, across the whole of the UK local union reps have found themselves suspended or even dismissed, without any formal charges ever being levelled against them – including two in Inverness, a strategy described by one local politician as a “strategy of intimidation”), the levels of frustration and despair have, for many of our members, reached breaking point. Mental health issues throughout offices nationwide have soared. Many are leaving the business rather than continue under such conditions, and they are not being replaced.
"As always, the CWU are committed to the maintenance – and ideally the improvement – of our member’s terms and conditions, still under serious and sustained attack by management. We remain happy, even keen, to work *with* Royal Mail Group management to restore the quality of service you, the public, expect.
"he last thing the uion wants is more strike action; every time we strike, our members lose money, we don’t get paid for striking! However, the current situation “on the ground” has to improve for our members or there will be no service left at all! No posties to deliver your mail at all, let alone the current unique six days of seven. We genuinely fear the service is at breaking point.
"hat sort of management, in such a position, then instructs its local managers to seemingly *deliberately* make things worse, as a recent Parliamentary Committee concluded?
"The CWU both nationally and locally has put forward proposals to improve the service and spread the ever-increasing load on your posties – and improve it even beyond where it was before Covid, before the current disputes started. Shouldn’t management be demanding such improvements of *us*, instead of us demanding them of management?
"We cannot shake the impression that senior management appear unwilling to work constructively with us, but continually hope for a return to working with us to deliver the best possible services. Claims of investment as reported to MPs have not been felt at shop floor level; there seems to have been little or no investment in the "sharp end" of the business, yet senior managers and investors get their bonuses and dividends.
"We call, as we have always called, on Royal Mail to invest in posties, the backbone of Royal Mail! Restore full faith and investment in the Universal Service Obligation, stop changing duties and rounds just for the sake of making changes!
"We *can* put it right, we *can* make it better – but only by working together, side by side, as we used to before Royal Mail’s national managers decided to try and break both the union and the entire company. We really, really want to go back to just doing what Royal Mail has always been best at - delivering the country’s mail!"
