Area Branch

Providing Support for CWU Members in the Coventry Area Branch

Last Updated Friday, 20 June 2008

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What the Closure of Coventry Mail Centre will mean to the staff who work there...

 

Staff who work in Processing

 

These staff make up the majority of the 500, (approximate), staff who will be displaced by the closure.  These Royal Mail employees currently process the mail for Coventry and Warwickshire in Coventry Mail Centre.  Royal Mail has stated that these employees will be transferred to other work in the Coventry & Warwickshire Area or can travel to the other side of Northampton to work in the new Mail Centre.

 

Unfortunately there is no evidence that 500 vacancies currently exist in Royal Mail in Coventry & Warwickshire, nor that there will be sufficient vacancies in the new Mail Centre in Northamptonshire, as Royal Mail staff who currently work in Northampton will also be employed there.  Additionally, if you don’t drive having to travel to the other side of Northampton could be a logistical impossibility.  Even those who drive may not exactly find the prospect of a daily commute in excess of 80 miles a day a reasonable alternative to their current place of employment.

 

As things stand Royal Mail have stated there will be no voluntary redundancies.  If redundancies were available then they would completely impact on the financial viability of this project.

 

Therefore the future of these staff is completely uncertain if Coventry Mail Centre closes.

 

Staff who work in Deliveries

 

These are the staff who deliver the mail in Coventry & Warwickshire.  Royal Mail has assured these employees that their future won’t be affected by the closure of Coventry Mail Centre.  In fact Royal Mail have assured the delivery staff currently based at Coventry Mail Centre that they'll get to work in two shiny new Delivery Offices in Coventry.

 

However to say that Delivery staff in Coventry, and Delivery staff located in Delivery Offices throughout Warwickshire won’t be affected by the closure is somewhat of a fib!  You see it all comes down to those displaced Processing Staff.  If the company intends to absorb them into their current operations in Coventry & Warwickshire then a significant portion would inevitably end up in Deliveries in Coventry and in towns such as Nuneaton & Leamington Spa.  This would force a re-pick of duties and this would affect delivery staff who currently get to choose which round they do.  In a culture based upon seniority a lot of Delivery Staff could be affected as a significant number of Processing Staff have worked for Royal Mail longer than the Delivery Staff and would therefore be higher up in seniority order when it came to duty re-picks.

 

Additionally presuming that part of the reason that Royal Mail wants to close Coventry Mail Centre is to reduce overheads an increase of Processing staff in Deliveries could inevitably result in headcount reduction to in Deliveries to compensate.  

 

Staff who work in Distribution

 

These are the staff who collect mail from post boxes and workplaces and ferry mail to Delivery Offices.  As things stand under Royal Mail’s proposals they will be split between the two new Delivery Offices in Coventry.  As a consequence Loading Bay staff could be displaced. The night shift would instantly be affected as Royal Mail are eradicating night shifts in Delivery Offices.  The future for distribution staff in Coventry could be extremely uncertain.

 

Royal Mail Staff who work in support roles and staff who work for Romec and Quadrant

 

These are clerical staff, Cleaning staff, Caterers, engineers etc.  They currently work in Coventry Mail Centre and again their future is uncertain as a reduction in Royal Mail operations in Coventry will affect the number of these staff needed.