Mail workers furious at working conditions
Posted: 27 Aug 2007, 03:58
http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/ ... 3144836.jp
Union officials say working conditions at Royal Mail's delivery depot in St James Mill Road, St James, are below standard and they have demanded improvements "in the very near future".
They say temperatures inside the building, which replaced the old Barrack Road office which was wrecked in an arson attack in 2003, regularly drop below levels dictated by health and safety regulations.
Roger Gould, delivery representative for the Communication Workers Union (CWU), said staff at the site had had enough.
He said: "We do not ask Royal Mail for any more than the basic requirements but after four years of sub-standard conditions, tolerance is wearing thin and staff morale is at an all-time low.
"Our members have made it perfectly clear to me that if the temperature drops below 16c, as it has done periodically over the past four years, then they will be leaving the floor."
CWU Midlands regional secretary Lee Barron, a former Labour councillor at Northampton Borough Council, said working conditions at St James Mill Road were intolerable during the winter.
He said: "This is an issue which has been rumbling on
for some time. In the winter of last year I was down at the depot when the temperature dropped down into single figures.
"It is against the law to ask people to work under those conditions and CWU members are quite right to make a stand.
"All we ask is for Royal Mail to stand by the promises they have made and live up to the requirements they are supposed to provide for their workers."
Royal Mail says it has plans to improve the heating system at the delivery office.
A spokesman said: "Royal Mail has undertaken remedial work to improve conditions but accepts these are still not ideal.
"Temporary heating has been installed at the unit in St James Mill Road and we are currently evaluating tenders for a replacement heating system.
"Once the tenders have been processed, work will be commissioned with the aim of the new heating system being operational as soon as possible."
Last Updated: 24 August 2007 9:47 AM
Union officials say working conditions at Royal Mail's delivery depot in St James Mill Road, St James, are below standard and they have demanded improvements "in the very near future".
They say temperatures inside the building, which replaced the old Barrack Road office which was wrecked in an arson attack in 2003, regularly drop below levels dictated by health and safety regulations.
Roger Gould, delivery representative for the Communication Workers Union (CWU), said staff at the site had had enough.
He said: "We do not ask Royal Mail for any more than the basic requirements but after four years of sub-standard conditions, tolerance is wearing thin and staff morale is at an all-time low.
"Our members have made it perfectly clear to me that if the temperature drops below 16c, as it has done periodically over the past four years, then they will be leaving the floor."
CWU Midlands regional secretary Lee Barron, a former Labour councillor at Northampton Borough Council, said working conditions at St James Mill Road were intolerable during the winter.
He said: "This is an issue which has been rumbling on
for some time. In the winter of last year I was down at the depot when the temperature dropped down into single figures.
"It is against the law to ask people to work under those conditions and CWU members are quite right to make a stand.
"All we ask is for Royal Mail to stand by the promises they have made and live up to the requirements they are supposed to provide for their workers."
Royal Mail says it has plans to improve the heating system at the delivery office.
A spokesman said: "Royal Mail has undertaken remedial work to improve conditions but accepts these are still not ideal.
"Temporary heating has been installed at the unit in St James Mill Road and we are currently evaluating tenders for a replacement heating system.
"Once the tenders have been processed, work will be commissioned with the aim of the new heating system being operational as soon as possible."
Last Updated: 24 August 2007 9:47 AM
