Postal workers vote for strike

BY MARK BENHAM
LONDON’S postal system faces further disruption as Communication
Workers Union members today backed an official strike that will stop
deliveries and collections across north London for several days. The first 24-hour strike begins on Friday 6 July. It will be followed by another one-day strike on Monday 9 July. All N and NW postal codes will be severely affected. Some 1,200 Royal Mail staff at the notoriously hardline Almeida Street
centre in Islington are expected to take part in protest at the loss and
transfer of jobs from the outdated office there. Today Royal Mail warned customers there will be no deliveries on the Friday and very little on the Saturday. Mail will not be collected throughout north London during the period affected, except for the N13, N17 and N21 post codes. Royal Mail accuses the union in London of attempting to rewrite agreements made nationally between the CWU and Royal Mail over remuneration packages for staff transfers. Postal workers are accused of using old-style, obstructive union activities that are giving customers in London the worst service in the country. A Royal Mail spokesman today said: “The union wants its own way despite our constructive and flexible offer to accommodate staff when they are transferred to three other sites.” North London already suffers one of the worst standards of delivery in the country with nearly one in five first class letters arriving late. The latest strike comes as the Evening Standard publishes an investigation
into the chaos caused by continual strikes by CWU members.