The union representing Royal Mail workers across Scotland and Scotland’s largest trade union body has issued an urgent warning over the “viability” of the upcoming Scottish Parliament election as the postal service faces a “perilous” future.
STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer has contacted UK Government Secretary of State Peter Kyle over “grave concerns” about the future of Royal Mail, with their Optimised Delivery Model (ODM) agenda leading to increased delayed, significant backlogs and high staff turnover.
In a briefing compiled by the Communications Workers Union (CWU), the trade union representing Royal Mail workers, information showed that the companies model of prioritising parcels over mail is leading to “significant backlogs of mail in many sorting offices and mail hubs” and that “the lack of staff is a major risk that could compromise Royal Mail’s ability to deliver party election materials and postal ballot papers to the agreed standard.”
Staffing information further shows that over 21% of new starters in Scotland leave within 90 days, rising to over 23% year-on-year. The news follows a report given by the CWU at the latest meeting of the STUC’s General Council last week.
Roz Foyer, General Secretary of the STUC, claimed that the “crisis” within the postal service further threatens trade union democracy, with unions compelled to use postal ballots when consulting for industrial action.
Commenting, Ms Foyer said:
“The perilous state of Royal Mail should concern everyone across Scotland. We all need a reliable, accessible and universal postal service that caters to the needs of society, not shareholders.
“To hear of significant backlogs of mail, delayed deliveries and chronically high staff turnover rates speaks to a company in crisis and a reform agenda that simply does not work in Scotland.
“Democratic accountability and scrutiny matters. With the election a mere number of weeks away, we simply cannot compromise the validity of that vote if Royal Mail fail to deliver election material or postal ballots as expected.
“Trade union democracy is also on the line. Unions balloting for industrial action must also rely on postal ballots, many of which were delayed or didn’t materialise at all.
“This cannot go on and, on behalf of the CWU, we have made representation to the UK Government to get unions, MPs, MSPs and Royal Mail around the table to demand a postal service fit for the future.”
Commenting, Craig Anderson CWU Regional Official for Scotland said:
“There is a viable and genuine threat to our democratic process if Royal Mail are allowed to run rampant with their rogue reform agenda to the Universal Service Obligation (USO).
“Their unworkable Optimised Delivery Model simply does not work. High staff turnover and poor conditions, unsurprisingly, is leading to delayed deliveries and stacks of mail piling up with no end in sight.
“These failures don’t just fail the company – they fail communities. We need the UK Government to show leadership and facilitate further meetings between the company, unions and politicians to ensure the upcoming elections are not threatened nor compromised by the current failures of Royal Mail.
