Over the last 12 months’ people across the Wirral will have seen the quality of their Royal Mail postal service at an all-time low, due to management imposed cuts and unachievable delivery rounds.

Postal services in the Wirral may come to a full stand-still after Royal Mail workers have voted to take action against the “petty” sacking of their colleagues.

In a ballot members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) at Prenton Delivery Office (DO) voted by 95.83% on a 70.59% turnout to take strike action.

The action is in relation to a decision taken by local Royal Mail management to dismiss six workers for taking a tea break at an agreed safe rest stop in August.

The union believes that the sacking of these postal workers is a pure smokescreen to hide the mismanagement of the office, which has led to deliveries failing regularly and customers sometimes waiting weeks for their mail and parcels to be delivered. The blame for this lies squarely with management, who imposed staffing cuts and increased the size of delivery rounds, leading to massive failures. These managers have no pride in the service our members provide to our customers.

While 11 of these employees were initially suspended for taking the breaks – which they are contractually entitled to – local management eventually ruled that six would not be returning to work earlier this month, including a worker with 44 years of unblemished service. This was later reduced to 4 dismissals on appeal.

The decision was met with anger by an already demoralised workforce – as well as in the wider community, which has been subject to persistent postal delays due to under-recruitment and management cuts.

The union is demanding that management get back around the negotiating table to work out a solution where all workers will be reinstated.

A CWU spokesperson said: “The result is a clear demonstration of the anger workers feel on the ground at this petty, vindictive attack on their respected colleagues and a rejection of a culture of bullying and mismanagement in the workplace.

“This situation won’t be solved by management doubling down on poorly-handled decisions, but with a decent compromise that sees these workers reinstated and the workforce treated with the respect they deserve.”

In closing, the union through our network of representatives is willing to work quickly with Royal Mail to find a solution that can get our dismissed colleagues back to work and resolve the on-going problems with mail deliveries across the CH43 postcode to get them back to the standard the public expect and deserve.

If you’d like to send a message of support, please email: cwunreg@gmail.com

We welcome the amazing support we have already received for our members from the local MP, Mick Whitley, Wirral Councillors and the public.

If you wish to send an email asking Royal Mail to reinstate these workers, please complete the form below to email Royal Mail management directly.

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