Union talk of action over sorting office plan
UNION leaders will meet today to discuss taking industrial action after Royal Mail confirmed it wants to close the Copperas Hill sorting office.
Some staff walked out in disgust on Tuesday night, and Communication Workers Union representatives were called in to persuade them to return.
Today, CWU leaders, who are gathering in Stockport, will decide whether to organise a union-sanctioned strike.
Liverpool branch secretary Mark Walsh said: “The meeting was already scheduled, but the agenda has been radically changed. Whether we call for industrial action is on the cards.”
This will be followed tomorrow by an emergency meeting with Liverpool Vision to go over a last- gasp deal to save jobs.
Liverpool Vision chief executive Jim Gill said he was anxious to begin talks with Royal Mail and expressed frustration that no communication had yet been made.
He believes three sites, including one at Stonebridge Park, on East Lancs Road, and two in Speke should be considered.
He said: “Royal Mail said they would write to us once they had announced their preferred option. Now it’s time to have that conversation.
“I wrote to the chief executive, but we haven’t had a conversation with Royal Mail so we haven’t had the opportunity to see what they’re wanting to do.”
He admitted the Copperas Hill sorting office was not fit for purpose, and alternatives had to be found.
He said: “What we’re doing is trying to find a way of presenting an option for Liverpool to look after the jobs that are vital for the city.
“I understand the physical criteria for Royal Mail.
“It has to be a modern and efficient layout and that is a single-floor building.
“They need to allow large double-decker trailers in, and there have to be facilities for automation.
“But you can do that in a new- build, and that ought to be in Liverpool.”
The long-term future of the Copperas Hill site is also a key question Mr Gill wants to resolve in order to continue Liverpool’s regeneration.
He said: “It’s in a place of strategic importance to us. The whole area east of Lime Street, and even including Lime Street, that offers a medium to long-term redevelopment option.
“It provides quite an important link between the university area and the city centre.
“We would like to know what Royal Mail has in mind so it fits in with what we could be able to do in the future.”
Royal Mail suggest there will only be 200 fewer employees in the North West region. But city leaders believe £26m will be lost from the city economy if the move goes ahead.
