CHAOS AT CHRISTMAS AS POSTAL STAFF GO ON STRIKE
Unions to walk out on busiest week of the year
CHRISTMAS is at risk of postal chaos with thousands of Post Office workers threatening five days of strike action in the week before December 25, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Some 3,000 Post Office counter staff who are members of the Communications Workers Union (CWU) plan to walk out for three days on December 19, 20 and 24.
A further 1,200 cash handlers, who deliver vital currency to Post Office branches, will take part in a 48-hour strike on December 22 and 23, according to the CWU.
As a result of the combined industrial action, some 300 larger Crown Post Offices across the UK, including dozens in towns and cities across Scotland, will close
From Page One entirely or operate a skeleton service during Christmas week – traditionally the busiest of the year.
Hundreds more smaller branches, often located in rural areas, will be left struggling to trade because they have not received their usual cash delivery.
Union bosses have warned that the strikes will disrupt deliveries during the Post Office’s busiest week – leaving thousands of people hoping to send last-minute gifts disappointed.
The final date for sending firstclass letters and parcels to arrive in time for Christmas is December 21.
Andrew Furey, assistant general secretary of the CWU, told The Mail on Sunday: ‘It will be absolute chaos in the lead-up to Christmas because it’s prime time for deliveries. The main impact will be on parcels and packages. It will affect people wanting to send those last-minute gifts and the person in the Post Office on Christmas Eve waiting to receive their present.’
Mr Furey warned that the impact of the walk-out by the cash handlers would be equally devastating. He said: ‘People will be taking out money, they will be paying for parcels and some of the Post Offices have got bureaux de change. So the cash handlers striking will affect a lot more post offices because people will turn up at the branches and they will be closed as they will have no cash.’
The walk-outs during the Christmas week will be the fourth bout of Post Office strikes since the CWU balloted its members in August and 85 per cent voted in favour of industrial action. Unions have been embroiled in a longrunning dispute with the Government, which owns the Post Office, over branch closures, job losses and the closing of a final salary pension scheme. The first 24-hour walk-out took place on September 15, with a second on October 31. Yesterday saw the third strike, with more than 3,000 workers taking to picket lines. The union has defended its decision to strike at Christmas, saying it is trying to save jobs and branches.
But Tory MP Grant Shapps, who has campaigned against Post Office closures, branded the CWU’s five-day stoppage ‘crazy’.
Mr Shapps said: ‘Given that this dispute is in part about Post Office closures, taking action which deliberately closes branches is a spectacular own goal at Christmas time when people rely on the Post Office.’
Kevin Gilliland, Post Office network and sales director, insisted that even if a Christmas strike went ahead the majority of branches would remain open: ‘We have not received any formal notification of action from our unions and, should further action be taken, we can reassure our customers that at least 97 per cent of our network will be open for business as usual.’