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Postal delay worsens

8:21am Wednesday 1st August 2007

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DELAYS in postal deliveries are set to increase after another damaging day of strike action in Oxfordshire yesterday.

No post was sorted at the Oxford mail centre in Cowley as staff joined colleagues across the country in a 24-hour official stoppage which ends at 3am today.

And with delivery workers set to walk out for 24 hours tomorrow, delays are approaching the two-week mark as the backlog of millions of letters and parcels builds up.

Some first class letters received by us yesterday were postmarked July 18, meaning it has taken 12 days for them to be delivered.

Union officials claim backogged mail is being mixed up with newly-posted items, making it impossible to forecast when it will be delivered.

Communication Workers Union (CWU) representative Bob Cullen said: "There are millions of items lying around.

"There were practically no deliveries on Monday, because delivery staff were called in to help sort the backlog.

"But sorting is like a pick and mix - it's pot luck what comes out."

The situation in Oxford has been compounded by the effects of the six-day unofficial local strike, which ended on Sunday, July 22, following the suspension of two workers at the mail centre.

And the situation in some areas of the city, such as Botley Road, Osney and Abingdon Road, was exacerbated by last week's floods which meant deliveries were not made to houses at risk of flooding.

Royal Mail managers admit the unofficial action has led to long delays as they battle with the escalation of the national strike, while trying to clear the effects of the local wildcat walkout.

Royal Mail spokesman Sue Dakin said: "Throughout the official action we have been sorting mail by date order, but with the unofficial strike, clearly in some cases that has not been achievable and we apologise to customers.

"We will be working through the disruption to collect and deliver letters for our customers as quickly as we can.

"Royal Mail remains ready to meet the union leadership yet again at any time to explain its position and the reality of the open marketplace in which we now operate."

The national strike action centres around the rejection of a 2.5 per cent pay claim and continuing job losses in the service.

Customers who have had items of first class mail delayed for more than five days due to strike action can claim compensation of up to £10 per item.

For more information, call Royal Mail customer services on 08457 740740 or the industry regulator Postwatch on 08456 013265.

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bex, says...
9:40am Wed 1 Aug 07

So here we go again...we are yet again having our mail service disrupted by striking Royal Mail workers! At first I was sympathetic, but now, along with many others, completely fed up with the whole thing. I am sick of having my post held 'ransom' by a group of people who feel this gives them some sort of 'power'. If you don't agree with the conditions of your employment, then be men and let someone else do the job! There are plenty out there who would happily have a decent paid job, but quite clearly the staff at Royal Mail are not those.Just go,and let everyone else have back the service they deserve.
By the way, do you all get overtime to catch up with the backlog once you've finished your strop??

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C, Oxford says...
10:11am Wed 1 Aug 07

Royal Mail must be paying them far to much if they can afford to strike at a drop of a hat.

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jennifer, oxford says...
11:30am Wed 1 Aug 07

Royal Mail bosses should definatley not give in to these people either, because if they do, we are just going to have the same situation another couple of years down the line, because they will think they can down tools just to get their own way.

To be honest, what with the wildcat strike that was prviously ongoing, July was a complete nightmare and has probably made a lot of the public who might have had a little sympathy feel nothing but anger for the workers, especially the ones in Oxford who strike because of any little problem.

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Phil, says...
12:15pm Wed 1 Aug 07

I agree with Jennifer's comments entirely.

I also wonder if C is correct - do you think if they do overtime they get it on time and a half or double time? It would be interesting to find out.

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bex, says...
12:43pm Wed 1 Aug 07

Interesting to see that there is no response from any Royal Mail 'workers'(if thats the correct word!!??) ....I expect they are out on their picket line with a barbeque like last time!!..............

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Ed, Oxford says...
1:59pm Wed 1 Aug 07

How about we (the general public) go and picket the sorting office and stop them leaving until we get our mail (which is OUR property).

Show them we're sick of them our businesses and lives because they've got a gripe with management.

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postie rmh, oxford says...
7:27pm Wed 1 Aug 07

to bex first comment.no we dont get paid to deliver after strike.no im not in a strop.i have lost over three hundred pounds in a month so far .im not going on hoiladay this year and im only just paying my rent and house hold bills .today i got up at 4am started work at 5am preped saturdays and mondays mail then delivered over half of it in hot tempertures and finished at 1235.on monday i was not allowed out of the office to deliver any mail as the backlog was so big ,mind you most of the mail i was sorting was for tnt,dhl etc which are the companines that are undercutting royalmail in prices then getting us to deliver it .any time you want do the job i do in all weathers and all days of the week you are most welcome.my take home pay with no overtime is 274pounds per week.if royal mail get what they want i will earn even less .the goverment says all workers should have a min of 400 gross per week ,how much do you get for what you do

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ros, says...
9:08pm Wed 1 Aug 07

Yet again during this bloody strike visited the Royal Mail office at sandy lane to ask if possible a letter that Iurgently needed was there for collection. What rude staff. I was laughed at and told you do know were on strike,
Yes I knew this, ( every one knows this )my reply, yes I know your collegues are on strike but you are here and I need to know if my letter is here. To which they replied with a big sigh sorry we are on strike. NO I replied your not you are here standing behind that counter to serve the public and help with the querey I came in for.
Something so simple went on for so long either my letter was there or it wasnt a yes or no would have done. It ended up me a calm natured person almost blowing a fuse because of incompetant staff.I left sandy lane office no wiser as to whether my letter was there or not.
Please Royal Mail staff, yes we know your on strike but what happened to good old fashioned manners. We say the young of today are rude but your staff have no manners at all.Get a grip. What happened to customer relations. One day someone may not be as patient as I.

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V Evans, Carterton says...
6:01pm Thu 2 Aug 07

Ed in Oxford - if I bring the butties will you supply the drinks? Happy to join you in picketing for OUR mail as our company has got to wait until next week now for a sponsorship cheque in 4 figures that we desperately need to survive.

We have lost out on business already thanks to the selfishness of the strikers. Next thing they will be demanding that he Armed Forces do their jobs while they striked, and then they really will see the wrong side of me.

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Anon, Oxford says...
4:31pm Fri 3 Aug 07

I think you're all being selfish yourselves in what your saying. I know postmen that struggle to get by on what they earn and they are blooming hard workers! As you say we know theres a strike therefore dont post anything!! If your that desperate get a courier! You'd think the world had collapsed by what your all saying! Heres what i say 'Good luck to all postal workers' !!

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V Evans, Carterton says...
11:09am Mon 6 Aug 07

Anon wrote:
I think you're all being selfish yourselves in what your saying. I know postmen that struggle to get by on what they earn and they are blooming hard workers! As you say we know theres a strike therefore dont post anything!! If your that desperate get a courier! You'd think the world had collapsed by what your all saying! Heres what i say 'Good luck to all postal workers' !!
How stupid can you get! Read the comments by others and see what people are saying - how can a charitable organisation afford to pay for a courier to get a sponsorship cheque to them when that cheque is what they need to pay their bills in the first place?

Grow up - there are plenty of people out there who would LOVE to have a job so sack the staff who strike and let people who do care about customer service and working professionally have the jobs instead.

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chunkmail, witney says...
2:20pm Mon 6 Aug 07

v evans!
Try to understand this... staff turnover in deliveries is at an all time high.
The new young bloods (the jobless)your talking about arrive.. they try it for a week and leave!
Retetention of staff is the key to stability .
Our village postman did the same round for 20 years. He knew everbody and they all knew him.
Read the papers and get informed of the issues posties are concerned about their pensions that Gordon Brown has been dipping into and the huge sell of that the government is planning in secret.




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V Evans, Carterton says...
11:20am Tue 7 Aug 07

Hardly surprising there is a high turnover if you join a company and get told to strike. I applied for a job at the Royal Mail in Witney and as I was about to go to the 3rd round of interviews I heard of strikes possibly happening. I immediately withdrew my application as there was no way I would work for a company that holds the CUSTOMERS hostage.

Its high time unions were abolished as there is NO need for them in this day and age. All they do is cause maximum disruption for the country and have little or no affect on the senior management of the compnay.

Sit down with them and talk calmly and rationally. Demands will not work - diplomacy and compromise will.

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J Dunlop, Scotland says...
10:02pm Mon 13 Aug 07

A little comment to the hard done by postman, i work for the government as a civil servant. Day in day out i take abuse from the public, i'm up at 5:30am to travel to work back in the house at 6:30pm and my take home pay after tax is £225 per week. My pay is the standard for people in my grade Admin Officer, so i wish i had your job, i could do with a rest.

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