Postal Strike Hits NI

Postal staff are to go on strike this Thursday.

The talking is over - for now - as attempts to broker a deal with postal staff have failed to halt industrial action.

Following repeated attempts to reach agreement, a statement from the postal giant's management this afternoon said: "Royal Mail very much regrets that mail services in Northern Ireland are likely to be disrupted as a result of the planned national strike action being taken by the Communication Workers Union on Thursday, 22 October and Friday, 23 October.

"Royal Mail has contingency plans in place and we will be doing everything possible to keep the mail moving and to minimise disruption for our customers. Delays are inevitable, however, and we apologise unreservedly for this," said the statement.

However, it has also been pointed out that all 490 Post Office branches in Northern Ireland will be open and serving customers as normal on both Thursday and Friday, and that Parcelforce Worldwide guaranteed services are also unaffected by the industrial action.

In detail, it is expected that all the UK Mail Centres - including the Northern Ireland Mail Centre in Mallusk - will be taking part in 24-hour strike action starting at 4am on Thursday, 22 October.

Other parts of the operation will be unaffected and all deliveries and collections will be taking place as normal.

Again on Friday, all Royal Mail Delivery Offices will be taking part in 24-hour industrial action and the management statement said that they anticipate that some of NI's 26 delivery offices and smaller units in Northern Ireland will be operating as normal but, regrettably, most customers can expect disruption.

"We will only be able to provide a very limited collection and delivery service on Friday," a spokesman said.

Royal Mail's advice is to try and avoid posting mail on Thursday, 22 and Friday, 23 October.

"If that's not possible, customers should post early in the day at one of Northern Ireland's 490 Post Office branches, using our Special Delivery service for urgent or valuable items," continued the statement.

Royal Mail will be prioritising Special Delivery items but the guarantee for this service will be suspended for items posted on Thursday, 22 October and Friday, 23 October, which would be due for delivery on Friday, 23 October and Saturday, 24 October respectively.

"We will restore the guarantee of delivery as soon as we can be sure of being able to honour the service promise and expect to be able to do so by Monday, 26 October," said the spokesman, in conclusion.

(BMcC/KMcA)