Sir, We “posties” are not Luddites, nor are we ostriches with our heads in the sand, hoping things will go away – they will not (report, July 6).
Royal Mail has suffered much since competition became a reality, and quite rightly, given that we weren’t prepared or equipped for the loss of so much business in so short a time.
The manual side of our processing operation, performed in mail centres, is responsible for handling mail that is beyond existing machinery’s capacity. Modern machinery will address these issues and result in job losses. Staff accept this as a natural consequence. That we need to modernise is not in dispute.
The strings attached to the pay offer only marginally affect staff who work in mail centres. It is our delivery postmen and women who will bear the brunt of the proposals. We feel it is patently unfair for them to be asked to increase productivity and suffer loss of earnings for the same wage increase as coworkers who are not being put under the same obligation.
The 2.5 per cent, without these strings, would have been accepted. To use the anachronistic tool of striking for money alone would be economic madness. Given the entrenched positions of the union and Royal Mail, we need the Government to intervene and bring about the settlement before irreparable damage is caused to the business.
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DERRICK HYNAM, Stone, Staffs