Tag: Post Office Limited

The Post Office yesterday caved in to demands that it release details of its sub-post office closure programme and the whereabouts of local offices scheduled to close. The state enterprise finally acceded to a request from the Guardian for the list of offices due for closure by the end of March, rather than face being forced to disclose its plans under new freedom of information rules. Almost 2,500 offices have been singled out as part of a widespread cost-cutting plan. More than 2,000 have already been closed, and the remainder are due to go over the next two months. The Post Office said for the first time yesterday that 396 were threatened with closure and admitted that, notwithstanding last minute appeals, almost all would shut their doors in the coming weeks.

Workers in hundreds of Post Offices across the UK are to strike on Christmas Eve in a row over opening hours, it was announced today. Managers will fill in for counter staff at 294 crown offices when the walkout starts at 12.30pm. The Royal Mail said it wanted to keep open its 555 crown offices until 4pm to give people more time to collect pensions and child benefits. But the Communication Workers Union said there was no need to keep open offices beyond the traditional 12.30pm closing time.

The UK Post Office was taken to the Office of Fair Trading yesterday in an attempt to have the contracts it imposes upon thousands of sub-postmasters ruled anti-competitive and illegal. The Association of Convenience Stores, which represents 10,000 sub-post offices, two-thirds of the network, claimed its members were losing millions of pounds because of the restrictions imposed on them. Its complaint to the OFT calls for the Post Office, which is part of Royal Mail, to be forced to withdraw the contracts so that corner shops that provide postal services have greater freedom to offer different products and services.