We should all get Christmas post

CHRISTMAS post should be safe as the latest postal strikes were called off at the eleventh hour.

And it is hoped a new agreement between the Communication Workers Union and Royal Management could stave off the threat of further industrial action. It promises to achieve a “radically different” culture in industrial and employee relations.

But a backlog of more than a million items of post in Swindon could take up to two weeks to fully be cleared.

The two sides locked in the bitter dispute have come to an agreement which saw the strikes scheduled for yesterday and Monday cancelled at the last minute.

Work is now starting to shift the mountains of letters and parcels which have been building since the strikes started last month.

Workers are saying there are more than a million items backed up in Swindon alone but Royal Mail has employed 200 temporary workers to start at the town’s sorting office from Monday to deal with the backlog.

Communication Workers Union (CWU) official Kevin Beazer said: "There is a hell of a backlog of up to a million items – in trailers, at Reading, and Oxford, and throughout the South West where action took place last month. Offices are stuffed with mail.

“We talk to postmen and women in delivery offices every day and they said they are fed up with complaints from customers and businesses.”

With postal workers back to work and the army of temporary staff drafted in, customers are being told the worst is over.

A spokesman for Royal Mail said: “Whilst it is obvious that some customers will suffer disruption to their mail service as a result of the CWU’s damaging strike action, the claims about the operation in Swindon are completely misleading and are in no way a true reflection of the situation.

“We do not have mail stored in vehicles, this is simply scaremongering.”

The new agreement between the union and management pledges to achieve a “radically different” culture in industrial and employee relations and has come after the CWU said Royal Mail had made “significant concessions”.

But CWU’s Swindon representative Chris Rye said he wanted to see the agreement word for word.

He said: “Obviously we are waiting with bated breath to see the exact wording of what has been put forward.

“If it is the wrong wording we will feel cheated if it is the right wording we will feel all this was worth it.

“This action has meant that we lost money but we are confident we did it for the right reasons.

“We want negotiation not consultation.”

CWU deputy general secretary Dave Ward said: “There is no doubt that the strength of support from postal workers in the strikes has made Royal Mail think again.

“They have made significant concessions this week that are clear for everybody to see.

“Those concessions have allowed us to suspend strike action and work towards a full and final agreement.

“The agreement ensures the imposed change that has led to the bitter local disputes will now be subject to negotiation and agreement.

“Trust remains an issue between the union and the company but the introduction of an independent chair to continue the negotiations and fortnightly reviews will mean that nobody can walk away from this agreement.”

Further negotiations are expected in December to review the agreement.