Postal Workers Demand End To Daily Deliveries In Bid To Protect Staff From Coronavirus

CWU union wants junk mail to cease and priority be given to helping the vulnerable

by Paul Waugh

Postal workers have urged the Royal Mail to suspend junk mail and replace its daily deliveries with a three-times-a-week service in a bid to protect staff from the impact of coronavirus.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) also called for the closure of any sorting office that lacked protective equipment like gloves or failed to put in place measures to keep staff two metres apart. As part of a new “emergency network”, the union wants all “unaddressed advertising mail” to be suspended immediately and for staff to work alternate days in order to make it easier to observe social distancing. Postal workers have offered to act as a fifth emergency service to not just deliver mail but also food parcels and medical prescriptions to the vulnerable. CWU general secretary Dave Ward told HuffPost UK: “Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. The loyalty and commitment shown by postal workers across the UK in recent weeks has been unbelievable as has the support from the public. “It’s now time to repay that loyalty by adjusting