Post sacks face the axe

Changes to the way the post is delivered are in the pipeline, with plans for posties to do their rounds in vans.

The image of the postman on the beat who struggles with his heavy load come rain or shine could soon be a thing of the past, with Royal Mail proposing that postmen and women go out in pairs in a van and stop at specific stops on a route to deliver the mail.

At the moment, postmen do the rounds on foot, with extra mail and heavy parcels being dropped off at secure locations along the route, so they can pick up more mail as they go along.

But with each postman carrying around 70kg of weight in any given working day, many complain of back problems, and absenteeism rates are high.

Ted Stead, the secretary of the Oldham and Rochdale branch of the Communication Worker’s Union, said: “These moves represent big changes to the way that postmen and women work and we welcome them.

“It would reduce the physical demands of the job and lead to a drop in the level of sickness, which is a massive cost at the moment.

“It will also cut out dead walking time, when postal staff are walking between different areas.”

The move is one of a series of changes which could be put in place as part of modernisation package created in 2007.

Other changes include the use of trolleys to carry heavy loads and the introduction of new automated sorting machines.

Royal Mail has been trialling the new van system for two years, but a national scheme could still be some months away, with the Communication Worker’s Union yet to agree the finer details with Royal Mail.

While strongly supporting the plan, the union is looking for specific agreement on how the new system will work in practice, including how many hours the postmen and women will be in the vans and when they will be allowed to take their breaks.

Mr Stead added: “We think this a great idea, but it is vital that we have provisions in place for those who can’t drive, that people can choose who they go out in the van with and that the postal staff know how many hours they’ll be expected to work.

“We want an agreement on all these issues before anything is put in place.”

Because agreements have not been reached, the union will hold a ballot this month on whether they should call a national strike.

It is understood that the vans have already been bought and a phased introduction could take place once an agreement has been reached.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “We continue to look at ways we deliver the mail as efficiently as possible with any changes being discussed with our people first and we will continue to use a range of vans, trolleys and bikes where appropriate.

Customers should see no significant changes to their daily deliveries.”