Post offices close for day in walkout over cuts

POST offices in Harborne, Kingstanding, Solihull and Walsall closed for a day this week as a result of bitter strike action.

Walkouts took place at Post Office branches across the West Midlands in a battle over cuts.

Members of the Communication Workers Union and Unite staged a 24-hour protest as part of a dispute over branch closures, jobs and pensions.

The move comes after a vote for strike action was taken last month.

The Post Office, which is owned by the Government, plans to transfer around 60 of its larger outlets to the private-sector, which is expected to threaten around 2,000 jobs among its workforce of 6,600 staff.

The industrial action affected so-called crown branches, which are managed directly by the Post Office, and represent 300 or so of the network’s 11,000+ branches, the majority of which are run independently.

Dave Ward, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, said: “The Post Office is relentlessly pursuing a programme of cuts that will mean a further 2,000 job losses, staff being left tens of thousands of pounds worse off in retirement and the privatisation of its flagship branches.”

The Post Office said the vast majority of the network remained unaffected. Network and sales director Kevin Gilliland said: “We apologise to any customers who have been inconvenienced by the disruption to service in a very small number of branches.”