I read with interest the letter from Jane Coulston (Aug 8).
The good old fashioned postie has been sidelined by Royal Mail, as has service to its customers.
It is not so long ago that Royal Mail stopped the second deliveries, with a promise that all mail would be delivered by 9am.
Many posties are now e
mployed on 20 hour contracts but have five-hour daily rounds, meaning that they need to work an extra hour each day as overtime.
They have willingly worked on in the past but now the later finish would interfere with their own lives and they (quite rightly in my opinion) do not want to finish the extra hour later, and they are not doing so.
The service is now totally unsatisfactory. It is my own belief that each day selected streets are being deliberately missed in an effort to use the available manpower fairly.
So, if the postie cannot leave the depot until 10am how on earth can we expect our mail at a reasonable time.
I would not want to see a return to the old unions who thought that they should have absolute power, but I would like to see them doing more for their members than at present.
Bert Bishop, Stradbroke Road
MP Angela Smith's defence against hypocrisy on Post Office closures (Aug 16) does not stand up. She knew what they were voting for when they approved the Post Office Closure Programme.
She now thinks she can campaign with a clear conscience for Deepcar PO because of the steep hills that Post Office Ltd 'have 'overlooked'. What about the massive gradients for customers of Derbyshire Lane PO or the long climbs up to Western Road PO in Crookes ? In the city of seven hills, there will be very few branches where customers have a flat route to walk to reach them. That is why closures will hit the less mobile.
Alistair Tice (SCAPOC spokesperson)
What do you think? Add your comments below.
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