Postal staff vote to go on strike, as Rathbone Place delivery office is set to close

Published: 27 May 2011
by JOSH LOEB

POSTAL workers have voted in favour of strike action over plans to close three mail centres including the huge central London delivery office in Rathbone Place, Fitzrovia.

Operations from the site, which serves W1, WC1 and WC2, are set to be relocated to the Mount Pleasant mail centre in Clerkenwell, which could mean later delivery times and the loss of hundreds of jobs.

Union of Communication Workers (CWU) West End Branch secretary John Hart said any industrial action would be “a last resort,” but he added that Royal Mail bosses had “not been open” about their plans for the future of the site. Mr Hart said: “The closure of the Rathbone Place site will not only greatly affect residents who live in the West End but also, more importantly, business mail. The only reason for the sale of the Rathbone Place site is to asset-strip and cash in on the value of the property.”

Royal Mail have pledged there will be no compulsory redundancies but Mr Hart said he was concerned staff may be pressured into taking voluntary redundancy.

Gerry O’Rourke, Royal Mail’s regional operations director, said there was no mandate for strike action as turnout for the ballot was less than 50 per cent of employees at the affected sites.

He added: “The union has not received a strong mandate from employees. Nearly two-thirds of the employees it represents failed to support the call for strike action. The CWU should instead focus on supporting people during this period of change.”

The union will now write to Royal Mail to ask bosses to reconsider their stance.

Around 1,000 people work in the Rathbone Place office.

The central London delivery office has been open since 1964 and was originally based in Wimpole Street.