Welcome to CWU Midlands No 7 Branch web site
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Workers Memorial Day 28th April 2012.
Join us at the branch office 11:15am on 28th April to remember the dead and fight for the living. We will be going to the memorial tree by Hanley Museum at 11:45 along with other people including North Staffs TUC where we will be holding a minutes silance at 12 to remember the dead. This will be followed by speaches. Click here for more info.
The Sentinel
ROYAL Mail bosses will be asked to explain why they want to close a town's delivery office.
Members of Kidsgrove Town Council last night voiced their opposition to the plans to shut the Kidsgrove facility and move operations to the delivery office at Knutton.
The councillors voted to form a special committee to examine the issue.
This committee will invite managers at Royal Mail to attend a meeting in order to explain the organisation's reasoning behind the proposals.
Councillor Margaret Astle said she believed Royal Mail was simply looking to save money.
She said: "This is all about saving money. Royal Mail might have said that the car park at Kidsgrove is too small, and that there are health and safety issues, but that is all hogwash. It's just about saving money.
"I'm concerned that this could be the beginning of the end for Kidsgrove. If we aren't careful Kidsgrove could become a ghost town like Burslem.
"If you go out shopping and you come home to find one of those cards saying you've missed a delivery, you'll have to go all the way into Knutton to pick up your parcel.
"Once the staff have been moved to Knutton, I believe Royal Mail will use it as an excuse to let some of them go, and that will mean more jobs being lost in Kidsgrove."
Councillor Terry Turner, who used to work as a postman in Kidsgrove, said the closure of the delivery office would affect both staff and customers.
He said: "Postmen usually start their rounds at about 5am. If they have to go to a delivery office in Knutton, which is nearer to Keele than Kidsgrove, then they will have to set off for work at 4am.
"It will also mean that people in Kidsgrove will get their deliveries later in the day.
"I believe that we'll soon see a proposal to sell off Royal Mail, and so this is all about cutting costs to make the organisation more sellable."
But Councillor Geoffrey Locke said it was important for the council to hear Royal Mail's own stated reasons for wanting to close the delivery office.
He said: "What concerns me is that we haven't got anyone from Royal Mail telling us what their case is. We need to know what their arguments are in order to counteract them."
Royal Mail is currently consulting staff and representatives from the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) about the proposals.
The town council voted to organise a separate meeting with CWU representatives in order to learn about their concerns.
Councillors also agreed to support Stoke-on-Trent North MP Joan Walley's petition against the closure plans.
Royal Mail was negligent in its enforcement of an advance warning system before a postman was allegedly attacked by two dogs at a house in Londonderry, a High Court judge has ruled. Read more here
Proposed Merger between Newcastle Delivery Office and Kidsgrove Delivery Office
Royal Mail has announced that they wish to merge Kidsgrove Delivery Office with Newcastle Delivery Office. At the moment this is in the consultation stage.
CWU Midland No 7 Branch officials met with Joan Walley MP around the issues of a proposed move by Royal Mail to merge Kidsgrove Delivery Office into Newcastle Delivery Office in Knutton.
Joan Walley MP said she was extremely unhappy with the proposed merger and informed branch officials that she will be writing to Royal Mail's chief executive Moira Green as a matter of urgency.
Mrs Walley has also spoken to the evening sentinel and is looking to start a petition against the planned merger on her own website.
We will of course keep staff informed of the latest news with regards to the proposal as and when further news is available.
Derek Turner,
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