Doncaster Mail centre to close

Staff in Doncaster mail centre were called by Royal Mail to be given an emergency briefing on friday 04th June. Staff were informed that Royal Mail had been looking at mail centre closures throughout the North East Region over the past year and that the outcome in our area is that both Doncaster & Hull mail centres are to close & that both operations are to be moved to Sheffield. Staff were informed that the move to Sheffield would be "unlikely" to happen before 2012.

The closure of the mail centre in Doncaster will affect over 400 staff in all functions.

 

Julia West CWU Branch secretary says;

The announcement on Friday 4th June 2010, that our Mail Centre in Doncaster, was to close in its entirety, was met with shock and deep sadness. I feel deeply disappointed and disillusioned by this. Our members have always believed that the hard work and commitment they have shown and their willingness to adapt and meet with change would be rewarded. We knew that Mail Centre Rationalisation was taking place throughout the Country but due to the geographical spread of our area and the hard work from our members to meet quality and production targets we felt reasonably safe. It was a bolt from the blue, and we will not accept such an irrational decision, we will fight this closure using every avenue possible as we believe our Mail Centre has earned the right to stay open.

 

Gavin Aylott, CWU Branch Chair & Area Processing Rep says;

On Friday 4th of June I was given the news that RM intend to close the Mail Centre. What followed was a series of briefings from management to all staff. In 12 years as a CWU Rep I have never experienced a more difficult day. Emotions are ranging from anger and bitterness to fear and apprehension of the unknown. There is also a strange atmosphere with, in my view, members not sure how to react.

 

The CWU will not just lay down and accept this proposal we will be looking at putting forward alternative proposals to the employer which will primarily be around having a larger building within the Doncaster area. Additionally we will be organising a campaign to try to save our mail centre.

It is indeed dark times for the membership within the mail centre.

 

Kev Lester, Area Delivery Rep says;

Having spoken with members in deliveries after the businesses announcement last week, the shock has affected all our members within the Branch. There was no pre-warning and no inclination that this was the position. We will again stand united with our colleagues in the Mail Centre and Distribution and fully support the Reps in those functions. We are aware that the 90 day consultation period to enter counter proposals are something that the business are forced to do by law, not something that they are doing of their own free will. The review that will now take place will be fully supported by the Delivery function to prevent any closure within our Branch. Without doubt any closure would also have a massive impact on deliveries and people need to be aware that this is a campaign that everybody must support to ensure we protect all members within our branch.

 

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Copy of email sent to London on 08th June 2010;

Dear Mr Miliband, Ms Winterton, Mrs Flint

I am the Communication Workers Union Area Processing Rep in Doncaster Mail Centre. On Friday the 5th of June Royal Mail announced to all staff that they intend to close the mail centre by 2012 and divert all the mail to Sheffield Mail Centre at Brightside. This proposal has a direct affect on over 400 jobs in Doncaster. As you can imagine staff within this office are angry, upset and devastated about this proposal. We have, over the last few years worked with management in this building to help achieve excellent quality of service results, we have achieved budget and have implemented change to help support the business when mail volumes are declining. We all feel that this has been a total waste of time with the announcement of this decision.

The employer has stated there will be no compulsory redundancies however we have a number of part time staff who only work 4 hours a day and it will be difficult to see how they could travel to Sheffield. It also means that Doncaster itself with effectively lose another one of its major employers.

We would appreciate it if we could meet with you and the other Two Doncaster based members of parliament as we do need help in trying to change the mind of the employer. If needs be my Branch Secretary (Mrs Julia West) can travel to London to meet.

Yours Sincerely

 

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CWU North East Division response to mail centre closures

During the last 24 hours’ you will have received a briefing outlining Royal Mails strategy for the future of the Mail Centre network in the North East Region / Division. It is crucial that you understand that this is Royal Mail’s strategy, it is a proposal that has been shared with the CWU and it is not agreed.

 

The CWU are now entering a 12- week consultation process where we will be examining all of the information Royal Mail have used to come to their proposal. Gary Hodkinson Divisional Rep will take the lead in coordinating all activities for the CWU on the Mail Centre strategy. He will however, be fully supported by Bob McGuire, Steve Halliwell Divisional Reps, Roger Pheasey (Technical Services) and all the Branches and Area Reps in the North East Division.

We intend to work up alternative proposals to Royal Mail’s strategy of only having three mail centres in the Division within the 12-week period. We will be working closely with your Area and local CWU Reps and CWU HQ to present our findings to Royal Mail in writing offering a different strategy to the one they have just announced. We have called a meeting of all Area Reps next Thursday to discuss our next steps, and how we intend to involve as many people as possible in the consultation period.

We understand how worrying the announcements will be for our members but please understand that this is the initial consultation period, and we will do our utmost to secure an agreement that ensures all options have been considered by the business for a future mail centre strategy.

Yours sincerely

Gary Hodkinson    Bob McGuire         Steve Halliwell       Roger Pheasey

Communication Workers Union North East Divisional Representatives

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Article from the Socialist Worker http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=21470

Posted: 6.43pm Tuesday 8 June 2010

News & Reports

Royal Mail reorganisation means job cuts

Thousands of postal workers across northern England face the axe after Royal Mail announced a major “reorganisation” of its mail centres.

Some union activists say the company wants to slash jobs in a bid to boost profits ahead of privatisation—and that a recent agreement between the CWU union and Royal Mail is helping the process.

The company plans to close the Teesside mail centre in Middlesbrough and the Darlington mail centre, and transfer work to Gateshead.

Work from York will be hived off to Leeds, while Doncaster will see its mail sent to Sheffield.

“This will destroy many postal workers’ lives and the public service,” Bertie, a long-standing union activist from Middlesbrough, told Socialist Worker.

“Royal Mail is telling us that you either face a mammoth round-trip commute, or give up your job. What kind of choice is that? This is about preparing us for privatisation—nothing more.

“But the real tragedy is, that by brokering a bad agreement with Royal Mail, the union has signed up to the logic of slashing mail centre jobs.

“We’ve accepted that there are going to be cuts and that our job is simply to negotiate the changes. That was a major mistake.

“The union says that under that the agreement it has 13 weeks to put forward alternative plans.

“But there’s nothing to stop the company saying, ‘thanks for your opinion but we’re sticking to our guns and shutting you down’.”

Bertie says the mood in his workplace is “subdued”.

“People here are saying that it doesn’t seem to matter how hard you work, or how good the quality of service you provide is, Royal Mail are only concerned with fattening in readiness for a sell-off.”

It is vital that the CWU regains the initiative over mail centre closures.

A campaign that united a defence of jobs with opposition to privatisation could rock Royal Mail, and drive back the bosses and the government.

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Business Transformation Agreement