ROYAL Mail bosses and union officials last night ended wildcat strikes which broke out at two Liverpool sorting offices after six staff were sacked.
Around 200 staff walked out yesterday morning at the Sandhills and Brunswick sorting offices, disrupting postal services across Merseyside.
Last night, the late shift staff were persuaded to go into work as there were vows from both parties to get back round the negotiating table this morning to resolve the dispute.
It is understood the dismissals – which union representatives said were unfair – came after a row broke out between workers and management over the use of an automated sorting machine.
Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) officials said the dispute centred around staff fears that there was too much mail to feed through the new system, brought in after the closure of the sorting office at Copperas Hill. According to sources, staff complained the machine would be overloaded and the system would fail. When it did, union officials claim, the staff were dismissed.
When workers arrived at the two depots and heard of the sackings, they immediately launched an unofficial strike. Staff were told to leave the sites rather than mount unofficial pickets.
Royal Mail was unable to comment on what brought about the strike, saying only that it was a “conduct issue” and that the sacked staff had the right to appeal against their dismissal.
Union bosses said they had requested that senior managers from London be sent up to mediate in the dispute, adding that the stand-off would benefit from a “fresh pair of eyes”.
It is understood relations between management and the workforce has become increasingly strained in the last few months following the closure of Copperas Hill.
Mark Walsh, spokesman for the PCS union, said: “We have held talks with the higher management to get the appeal process under way. We want to make sure it is done fairly, and they’ve agreed to look at the dismissal issue from the outside.
“It’s normally done by an appeals manager from the North West but we have asked for a manager from London to come up with a fresh pair of eyes so the sacked staff can have a fair hearing.”
But Mr Walsh added:
“We have requested a legal ballot if necessary.”
A Royal Mail spokesman said yesterday: “A number of staff at our Liverpool North, Liverpool South and West Derby delivery offices have taken unofficial industrial action and we urge these staff to return to work as soon as possible.
“We will attempt to deliver as many Special Delivery and Tracked items to customers as is possible.
“Collections will also be attempted from as many Post Offices, business customers and posting boxes as possible, but there is likely to be disruption to both the delivery and collection of mail in some areas of the city.”
