Strikes averted as mail centre closes

ROYAL MAIL has reached a breakthrough agreement with postal workers to
head off the prospect of damaging strikes across London. Members of the Communications Workers Union have voted overwhelmingly to
accept plans to close the antiquated Almeida Street mail centre in Islington. The stand-off between union leaders and Royal Mail management over job
transfers from the centre had threatened to trigger widespread industrial
action. Now the acceptance of an offer, including a guarantee of no compulsory
redundancies, will allow Royal Mail to continue restructuring its
under-performing London operations. Some 1,200 jobs at Almeida Street will be transferred to three centres by
2003 – the new £54 million Greenford mail centre in Middlesex, a £34 million
centre planned for Bromley-by-Bow, and the giant Mount Pleasant office, also
in Islington. While too early to say if the deal suggests a thawing in industrial
relations at the Post Office, managers believe the acceptance shows that the
majority of the workforce is open to change and that resistance is coming
from a hardcore of activists. However, a number of ballots for industrial action are still alive across
the capital. The mail centres at Paddington and Nine Elms have held stoppages
over the past fortnight in a row over disciplinary procedures, while Romford
has been hit by strikes over performance-related pay. Royal Mail faces fines and losing substantial parts of its licence to new
rivals unless it meets tough targets to improve its performance in London.
EVENING STANDARD, 10th August 2001