Royal Mail strikes give Bristolians Christmas post woes

People have voiced their concerns about not receiving their Christmas parcels and letters because of the Royal Mail postal strikes.

Thousands of postal workers walked out last week in a dispute over pay and working conditions.

This has resulted in hundreds of packages being left in sorting offices, including one in Patchway, Bristol.

Kevin Beazer, from the Communication Workers Union (CWU), said they "sympathised" with the general public.

But he added: "People don't want to lose money but the attacks on their [postal workers] terms and conditions is like nothing we've ever seen before."

Members of the CWU walked out last Wednesday and Thursday. They are also due to strike on Friday and Saturday this week.

Lisa, from Kingswood, said she had been waiting for weeks for around 15 parcels for her children's Christmas presents to arrive.

"It's been weeks now and it's not turning up," she said.

"I've requested that it turns up but it's becoming a joke because my kids might not get their presents for Christmas."

Meanwhile, Jude Gilchrist revealed her business which sells handwoven cloths online from her base in Warminster, Wiltshire, has also suffered with an unreliable mail service.

Ms Gilchrist - who runs Loomin' Marvellous - said: "Once it has gone to the postal service there is no way of hurrying it through or finding out where it is.

"You just have to sit tight (and) I think that put an awful lot of customers off."

Another man told BBC Radio Bristol that he had sent a lot of cards but whether they "will get there by Christmas we do not know".

"I can understand some of their grievances, but it is not a good time for them to do it," he added.

"I think a lot of people will be angry at the action they are taking at the time of year.

"I'm a bit annoyed that I've just posted some mail that probably won't get there."

Another woman who lives in Bristol revealed that she posted her Christmas cards on 25 November and a friend living in Newport "only received" them in mid-December.

Mr Beazer said the union's members "are stoic" and "want a resolution".

"But there is no way our members can accept the attack on our terms and conditions that the business wants to introduce," he added.

"Let alone the attacks on the service which will affect customers."

He said there was "obviously" an issue with pay but "it was the attack on our terms and conditions, redundancies, bringing people in on 20% less (and) agency staff" which triggered the dispute.

A spokesperson for Royal Mail said: "Royal Mail has well-developed contingency plans, but we cannot fully replace the daily efforts of our frontline workforce.

"We'll be doing what we can to keep services running, but we are sorry this planned strike action is likely to cause you some disruption."

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