Royal Mail staff say parcels prioritised over letters

Letters are being left for days in sorting offices with staff told to prioritise parcels and tracked items due to a backlog caused by postal strikes, workers have claimed.

Hospital letters can remain undelivered for days, one worker in south-west Wales has told BBC Wales.

Royal Mail said letters and parcels were of "equal importance".

The Communication Workers Union has organised more strikes after failing to agree a deal over pay and conditions.

Meanwhile, Ceredigion MP Ben Lake said he was "very concerned" about the future of postal services, particularly in rural areas.

It comes after the Royal Mail has been seeking permission to stop letter deliveries on Saturdays, reducing the weekly frequency from six to five days.

Last month Royal Mail proposed a "pay-for-change" offer which would include changes to workers' shift patterns including start times and Sunday working in exchange for a 9% pay rise spread over two years.

Two postal workers have agreed to speak to BBC Wales about their concerns but wished to remain anonymous.

One claimed he was being told by managers to leave letters behind in the sorting office.

"Especially with these strike days, we know tomorrow it's going to be a big day for us," he said.

"First thing management will say is 'no overtime allowed and just clear your parcels and leave all the mail', so that can mean you'll have half a job left on the deck."

He claimed that he had personally seen what looked like hospital appointment letters being left behind for several days.

"This week I've had a hospital appointment on my round that has been there for two days," he said.

"Unfortunately, you don't agree with your management but you have to do what they tell you to do.

"You just bite your tongue and just do it."

Another worker claimed "it has got the point in our office that, on a daily basis, we've been told by management to prioritise parcels and tracked items over hospital appointment letters".

"We've put our heads above the parapet because we've had enough of what's going on locally and we want to see a change."

Royal Mail told BBC Wales that "every item of mail was important" and it "does not operate a policy of prioritising parcels".

"We regularly remind colleagues that the delivery, collection and processing of letters and parcels should be treated with equal importance," it said.

"Overtime continues to be available to colleagues when it is required, depending on our workload at any given time."

It also advised anyone with concerns over deliveries to contact its customer service team.

The number of letters being delivered to UK households has seen a decline while Royal Mail's parent company, International Distribution Services, has seen its parcel delivery business increase.

One of the postal workers told BBC Wales that the strike action was about fighting for the future of a universal postal service for all parts of the UK, including rural Wales.

He said if a reduction in letter delivery days was ever allowed it would "be the opening of the floodgates and the end as I see it of the universal service, delivering to 32 million delivery addresses throughout the country for one price".

Ceredigion's Plaid Cymru MP, Ben Lake, has also said he remained concerned although the UK government has reportedly rejected the Royal Mail's proposals.

"Such are the threats facing the universal service obligation and postal service in rural areas, I honestly believe that we would be at risk in a year or two years' time of not having that full postal service we depend on."

In a statement, Royal Mail said its universal service required "major reform".

"We have approached the government to seek an early move to five day letter delivery.

"Our regulator Ofcom's own research shows that a five day (Monday-Friday) letters service would meet the needs of 97% of consumers and SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises).

"Being required to provide a service that customers have said they no longer need, at significant structural cost to Royal Mail, increases the threat to the sustainability of the universal service."