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Strike breakers cut Royal Mail backlog to 5 million items
Dick Murray, Transport Correspondent26.10.09
Royal Mail said the number of items delayed by strikes will have fallen to five million by the end of the day.
The company has hired 30,000 temporary staff - double the usual number in the run-up to Christmas - to clear the backlog. The Communications Workers Union, which has called strikes in a row over pay, jobs and modernisation, believes the backlog is much higher.
Union leaders were meeting Adam Crozier, Royal Mail's chief executive, and other bosses today, after it was claimed that the strikes had cost London more than £500million since the start of the summer.
The London Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the total could soar by another £300million if three more days of strikes go ahead from Thursday.
Colin Stanbridge, LCCI chief executive, said it would delay the capital's economic recovery: "This is a colossal amount of money for the London economy to lose."
Reader views (9)
I think this strike is for the best. We used to get our post between 2/3 in the afternoon with no delivery on Saturdays. Now it is delivered well before noon and hey presto we had a delivery on Saturday. Seems like someone is at last working, in our area anyway. But a van is still parked outside the driver's home for hours at a time, how does he get away with it.
- Anon, uk
Adam Cozier lacks PR skills. But the strike is mad, as it force business away from Royal Mail and create unemployment in small businesses. Lets start a compromise by kicking Adam Cozier (Over paid and under performing) into touch and have ACAS!!!
- Andrew, London
Mick, I think you need to re-read the quote, "business chiefs said today", not Royal Mail chiefs, business chiefs, i.e. economists, specifically the London Chamber of Commerce. Or are you suggesting that it's all a big conspiracy against postal workers?
- Bob, Cheam
Quote: Postal strikes have cost London's economy more than £500million since the start of the summer, business chiefs said today.
Well they would say that?
Blame the workers for everything, but never blame themselves?
Let’s have a breakdown of this £500 million loss, please, explain it all in fact, and not fiction.
If Adam Crozier is anything to go by, I think the Bosses need more pay rises and bonuses for their hard work, poor souls, they must be suffering real poverty?
- Mickinlondon, london
If the government can afford to give useless bankers billions why can't they give postman pat a rise and charge it to the bankers?
- Frederick, London
Crozier came out of hiding and put up a reasonable performance on Andrew Marr but it should still go to ACAS not the TUC.
- Dhan Raj, Basildon
That's fine though, the CWU exec have been giving themselves low interest loans from the Union and the workers seem to think to think that they're sufficiently highly skilled that they deserve a payrise in a recession so it's all good news so the rest of the UK can suffer for all they care.
- Bob, Cheam
In the grand scheme of things, 500m is ONE DAY'S worth of Crash Gordon borrowing, so please don't try to lay the blame at anyone's door other than the useless feckless scot at Downing St ! (though I don't necessarily agree with Royal Mail blackmail either)
- Marianne, SW France/London
If this is true,why our the bosses being paid bonuses.
- Dave, london
