Royal Mail executives are doubling as bigwigs at a recruitment firm which is able to hire temporary staff to fill in for postal workers during strike action, a union has claimed.
The senior staff members at Royal Mail are directors at Angard Staffing, which is tasked with finding “flexible” workers for Royal Mail.
Angard Staffing is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Royal Mail and has been providing the postal giant alone with staff since 2011.
A change in the law in July has enabled businesses hit by strike action to fill staffing gaps with agency workers and the Communication Workers Union fears that Angard temporary workers will replace its members during the strike action.
The CWU said: “Royal Mail have effectively their own permanent strike-breaking resource through Angard.”
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing and the three executives are not paid to be directors of Angard.
As a result of the ongoing strike action, Royal Mail has asked customers to post their mail earlier than usual for Christmas this year.
It is bringing forward its recommended posting dates to help manage any impact from planned strikes by members of the CWU on December 9, 11, 14, 15, 23 and 24.
For 2nd class, the recommended last posting date is December 12, while for first class it is December 16.
Nick Landon, chief commercial officer at Royal Mail, said: “The CWU is striking at our busiest time, holding Christmas to ransom for our customers.”
But a Royal Mail worker has voiced the fears of many postal workers that bosses want to turn the 500-year-old British institution into yet another courier firm.
The postman, who asked the Mirror not to use his name, said: “It’s important that we don’t just turn into another guy in a hi-vis jacket sprinting from a van to your front door, taking a photo and then rushing off.”
He described the vital community role played by postal workers, adding: “When I walk up and down the street, I’m there for 10, 15 minutes. People ask for help, ask for directions.
“Every day I will see somebody, every day I will give them a smile. There will be people who open the door and say, ‘Hey, it’s so lovely, it really makes my day’.
“It’s good to have someone to look out for people, and the postman or post woman might be the only person they see that day. And that small interaction, it makes me feel good.
“It’s great to feel rewarded in what you’re doing. I come out of the day happier for having done it, and I think a lot of people do. Most post people do see themselves as valuable members of society and I think the people we serve see us as that.”
Royal Mail has been told it cannot continue to blame Covid for late deliveries after it missed key targets last year because of the pandemic.
Regulator Ofcom found between April 2021 and March 2022 Royal Mail failed to hit some of its annual delivery targets.
Just 82% of first class mail was delivered within one working day, below a target of 93%, while 95.6% of second class post was delivered within three working days, against a target of 98.5%.
Ofcom admitted that for much of 2021/22, Covid-19 continued to have a “significant” impact on deliveries, but added: “We do not expect Covid to have a continuing, significant impact on the company’s service levels.”
A Royal Mail spokesman said. “We were disappointed by our 2021/22 quality of service performance. We apologise to customers who were impacted by service levels during this time.”
