Tesco switches contract as UK postal strike bites
Supermarket giant Tesco have switched a delivery contract from the Royal Mail because of the worsening unofficial dispute which is crippling postal services across many parts of the UK.
Meanwhile private firms holding licences to deliver a limited amount of bulk mail were given permission to carry any mail they wanted because of the dispute.
The industry’s regulator Postcomm said four firms holding licences and one interim licence holder would be able to provide a wider range of services to their existing customers.
The move will make little practical difference to mail deliveries but is a symbolically significant development.
Delivery of books ordered from Tesco online was given to private firm Parcelnet in a big blow to the postal organisation as it struggles to cope with the effects of wildcat strikes.
More than 20,000 postal workers in several regions were on strike tonight and post-boxes in London were sealed as the backlog of undelivered mail continued to mount.
Millions of letters and packets were caught up in the backlog, including cheques and bills as well as personal items such as cards and tickets.
Tesco said it wanted to guarantee that its customers received book deliveries within 48 hours.
