Post workers back for now
POSTAL workers across Teesside were returning to work this morning, after 95% turned out for two crippling 48-hour strikes.
The national strikes, which began on Thursday last week and ended at 3am today, caused chaos in the UK postal system with an estimated backlog of 160 million items still to be delivered.
The disruption to deliveries has been the worst since the dispute began earlier this year, and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) estimates it could cost firms millions in lost business.
Today it emerged it could take four to five days for the postal service to get back to normal - by which time workers will be into a series of rolling strikes beginning on Monday.
Peter Hall, assistant branch secretary at the Communication Workers Union (CWU) Cleveland said: “It is a big ask of people to go out on strike for four days, but again the response across the region has been brilliant at about 95%.
“It will take four or five days to get back to normal, and then we are into the rolling strikes again.”
Mail centres including Cannon Park in Middlesbrough will strike for 24 hours from 6pm on Tuesday next week, followed by delivery staff striking from 6pm on Wednesday.
Since the dispute began Royal Mail has increased its pay offer from 2.5% a year to 6.7% over two years.
But Mr Hall said that there were “strings attached” to the offer, with increased employee contributions to pensions and a later retirement age.
“Pension proposals and flexible working conditions are the stumbling blocks.
“It’s pensions that people feel most strongly about,” he said.
Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier hit back with claims that staff were paid 25% more than workers in rival post firms.
He added that the two sides were close to reaching an agreement on pay and pensions, leaving flexibility as the outstanding issue.
