Thatcham posties talk of work hell

Workers claim changes at depot mean they have to work unpaid overtime but customers still lose out

POSTAL workers in Thatcham have hit out at the Royal Mail, claiming that company changes have forced staff to work longer hours and carry heavier loads or face the sack.

Several workers, who asked not to be named, claim that employees at the Station Road depot are fed up with the extra unpaid work they are forced to do and others are finding that their health is suffering because their bicycles have been taken away, meaning they have to push

huge trolleys on their rounds.

The areas that postal delivery workers cover have increased, as part of a national review by Royal Mail to improve efficiency.

The company has also increased the number of reduced-hour staff it employs, said the workers, and these employees start work later and so do not help to prepare the deliveries.

This means, they say, that the delivery rounds, which are prepared by the remaining full-time members of staff, are being started later and customers are getting their mail delivered later, they claim.

One said: “About 95 per cent of the office are working for nothing.

“It's not their choice but they feel under pressure.

“I'm appalled. I used to have a great relationship with customers.

“I used to take pride in going the extra for them.

“Now I have to give such bad service every day."

Another worker said that those who pushed the trolley carts filled with mail were now suffering from back and foot pains, while another said that if they complained about having to work compulsory overtime – which is unpaid – they felt threatened with redundancy.

“It's compulsory overtime. We just cannot get all the work done in time.”

Thatcham resident, Julie Hill, of Anvil Court, said that her usual postman had to be signed off work for a week by his doctor as he had severe groin and back strain as he had been pushing his full trolley for six to eight miles a day, six days a week.

A spokeswoman for Royal Mail, Sally Hopkins, said that 90 people worked at the Thatcham depot and 15 of these were reduced-hour staff.

She said: “This new way of working was introduced for the RG18 and RG19 postcode areas in Thatcham in October.

“These changes have required a period of adjustment for staff and we anticipated that the changes would take a few weeks to implement.”