CWU Condemns Royal Mail Closure Announcement As Irresponsible

Liverpool, European Capitol of Culture is reeling as the news of Royal Mail’s decision to threaten 800 workers with redundancy as a result of its decision to close the City’s major sorting office at Copperas Hill.

The demise of Royal Mail activity within the site started with the threat of closure several years ago when it first muted the idea of closure of the site. Since then, the building has been left with little maintainance and is now in a situation where the Royal Mail are claiming it to be too costly to up-keep and modernise.

The matter is made worse by the fact that Royal Mail have stated that less than 200 jobs need to be transferred to its new site in Warrington.

At a time when every major business with a presence in Merseyside is investing in the city and many new businesses moving into Merseyside and Liverpool in particular, this seems a “reprehensible” move on the part of the Post Office.

Ian Taylor, CWU Divisional Officer North West/North Wales, commenting on the announcement said:

"Its really dissapointing that Royal Mail have found it necessary to announce preferred options that merely reflect the position they obviously had at the outset. A far better approach would have been to continue to speak to the CWU and develop real opportunities to deliver change jointly rather than this hysterical reaction that takes none of us any further. We look forward to them returning to a rational debate that offers our members clarity as to what their future with the industry looks like rather than this half way house".

Lousi Ellman, MP for Riverside is quoted in today’s (6th August) Daily Post as saying:

“Royal Mail is behaving in a reprehencible and unacceptable way. I took the trade unions to Liverpool Visions to identify alternative premises because it is essential Liverpool retains it’s sorting office.”

She added, “If Royal Mail has made a decision without taking this into account,it is in breach of its commitment to consult. The latest figures on the economic impact are essential to any decision.

But the decision does not only affect Merseyside. Royal Mail’s announcement of major automated sorting centre closures includes, Oldham, Bolton, Stockport and Crewe,

The CWU have condemned the plans for Liverpool as irresponsible.

Communication Workers Union Merseyside Amal Postal Branch secretary Mark Walsh said:

“This means there will be 600 jobs not based in Liverpool any more. It is no surprise because it is a plan they wanted 11 years ago, anyway.”

He admitted: “Probably the worst thing we did was keep Copperas Hill open, we should have called for a new building first. Royal Mail must be the only company that is not re-investing in the city.

Dave Ward, CWU Deputy General Secretary (postal), said:

“Royal Mail has reneged on an agreed process by prematurely announcing this decision. The consultation period has not come to an end making their announcement irresponsible and misleading.

“We believe Royal Mail’s plans are flawed, and have suggested a number of alternatives, such as relocating the current mail centre in Liverpool to another site in the Merseyside area. ”

Commenting upon the situation outside of Liverpool he said:

“The proposal to relocate the Crewe operation to Warrington some 35 miles away would have a major impact on the workers at Crewe because Royal Mail is one of the major employers in the area. The Crewe operation consists of a number of full and part time staff and Royal Mail’s proposals are based on everyone at Crewe working in Warrington."

He added: "The proposal affecting Oldham, Bolton, Stockport, Manchester and Preston are also questionable and fail to deal with a number of issues. The union has been putting forward a number of alternatives for dealing with the Mails operation for the whole of the North West during the consultation period.”

He concluded by saying:

“Royal Mail as a public service and major employer has an obligation to take into account their social and economic responsibility to the communities they serve. With unemployment in Liverpool being one of the highest in the UK, Royal Mail is failing to meet those responsibilities. Making this announcement without completing the consultation and choosing to ignore the agreed process explains why industrial relations are so poor within the industry.

The CWU acknowledges that changes are needed to modernise the postal industry, but a balance needs to be struck which meets the business plan, service standards and social and economic concerns.
 
Royal Mail needs to bring the workforce along with these changes in order for the business to be successful so we call on them to remove their preferred option, return to the negotiating table and have a genuine and meaningful consultation over the future of mail centres.”

But it's not just the sorting office staff who will loose their jobs, as delivery staff will also be affected.The Liverpool Daily Post quotes several CWU members comments with regard to the loss of their jobs:

Mike Yarwood, of Litherland, the CWU area delivery representative, said: "I found out about this from the radio, and have had to write to them to ask about people looking for new delivery depots this week. That’s the first indication I had.

"I’ve had no answer and I’m likely to be bombarded with questions tomorrow that I can’t answer."

Meanwhile in Oldham their loca media, The Oldham Advertiser, covered the story as it affects their sorting office. Quoting both the CWU and Royal Mail, the item concludes:

'However, Ian Young, of the Communication Workers Union, claims some compulsory job losses will be inevitable. "We’re told Royal Mail expect to achieve job losses through natural wastage," he said. "But there have already been a series of cuts in recent years and we believe those people who’ve wanted to leave have already done so."

Postal managers said that concentrating the sorting process in fewer centres would reduce the overall amount that individual items have to travel, cutting vehicle carbon emissions by 1,200 tonnes a year.

Steve Cameron, Royal Mail’s territory director, said: "We need to invest to defend our market share and to retain existing business and win new customers. That means reshaping our network in a way that increases efficiency, makes the best of our investment in technology and allows us to improve our service to customers.

"We are also determined to provide a more modern working environment for our people." '

In Bolton, the Bolton News reported that some 400 jobs will be lost with the closure of Farnworth sorting office.

Mick Hargreaves, secretary of the Bolton branch of the CWU, is quoted as saying: “My members are at rock bottom in the Farnworth centre.

“They are gutted at the contempt they have been treated with. There is anger that the media was briefed about the plans before they were.”

Local media in Liverpool ran a front page story for the last two days on the closure of Copperas Hill and their website news item can be seen here

Fury As Royal Mail Axes Copperas Hill Sorting Office: the Liverpool Echo news story including qutoes from MPs, Councellors and CWU members - here

Press Contacts:

Mark Walsh, Branch Secretary Merseyside Amal - 07753 627236
Ian Taylor,CWU North West Divisional Representative - 07958 645486

Front Page