UK Royal Mail apology over Belfast strike

ROYAL Mail today admitted its services had been seriously compromised by the unofficial strike by hundreds of workers.

Concerns about the impact of the strike were deepening today, but no new talks were scheduled to be held between union and management representatives.

The strike at the Tomb Street depot in Belfast began last Tuesday and immediately halted deliveries to addresses across the south, west and north of the city.

The dispute spread at the weekend to the Mallusk centre which sorts post for the whole of the province.

Royal Mail today said around a quarter of the Mallusk night shift stayed away from work last night, further increasing the knock-on effect across Northern Ireland.

Post mailed from south, west and north Belfast – including Belfast city centre – has been halted since last week.

In a statement today, Royal Mail said its services were now “seriously compromised” and apologised to the public.

It said the walk-out stemmed from bullying and harassment cases taken against workers.

David Peden, commercial manager for Royal Mail, said: “We need our people to understand that they are not striking to prevent bullying and harassment – they are striking to prevent Royal Mail dealing with the cases in the appropriate manner.”

The Communication Workers Union, while not endorsing the strike, has warned that only an agreement to set up an independent industrial relations review will secure a return to work.

Around 250 postal workers picketed outside the Royal Mail headquarters in Belfast this morning.

Striker Tony Coll said: “We will continue with strike action until we get what we have been asking for, but we want to know why Royal Mail is so scared of an independent review. If they have nothing to hide then they don’t have anything to worry about.

“We are very resolute about this. Now we are trying to get more involved with the community. They are very supportive of us but I’m not too sure what we would do if the community withdrew support.”