Royal Mail have announced today (13 February 2018) that they are to proceed with the closure of Holbeck Delivery Office, but postal workers are threatening industrial action to stop the move.
As previously reported, Royal Mail’s plan is to close the office on New Princess Street and move the operation to their City office, located off the Armley Gyratory system in LS12. At the final meeting of the consultation process this morning, Royal Mail managers informed the Communications Workers Union (CWU) of their decision to proceed with the move.
There have already been public protests and a petition against the move. Today the CWU lodged a formal “disagreement” and reported that members were urging the union to organise a ballot for industrial action “as quickly as possible.” Plans are also being drawn up for further public protests.
The union has cited many problems with the move including lack of workspace, welfare facilities and parking for staff, customers and red vans. In addition they point to the difficulty of reaching the site, especially at peak times. The City Delivery Office is located on Holts Crest Way behind the Harley Davison showroom on Wellington Road (A58).
In a statement, Royal Mail said:
“There will be no impact on deliveries to our customers as a result of this move. The postmen and women who work in Holbeck delivery office will continue to serve the local community, delivering a high quality service to our customers.
“If customers choose to collect mail from us because they were not at home when we tried to deliver it, they will be able to do this from the customer service point at Leeds City delivery office. This will be open considerably longer than the office at Holbeck, including until 8pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays. The office is also open on Sundays.
“Holbeck customers do not have to travel to Leeds City to pick up their mail if they do not want to or are unable to do so. Royal Mail can now leave many mail items with a neighbour if customers are not at home when we attempt delivery. Customers can nominate a dedicated neighbour to take in their parcels by filling in a form at their delivery office.
“Customers can also arrange a redelivery free of charge on a day that is convenient for them (including Saturdays), or Royal Mail can deliver the item to a different address within the same postcode area. This service can be arranged by calling the number on the “Something for You” card we leave or by visiting our website at www.royalmail.com/redelivery.”
Royal Mail are hoping to have the move finalised by June.
Deeply unwelcome news from the Royal Mail.
This will impact people in LS11 who don’t drive and/or have mobility needs. Not everyone has a nominated person locally they wish to trust with their mail/parcels.
Longer opening hours are great, but if you need two buses or a taxi to get there – it isn’t very cost friendly.
Oh Dear, it’s all good and well saying we can re-deliver to another collection point such as a local Post Office but this will see local Post Offices, such as the one where Premier is on Dewsbury Road, being inundated with mail for collection, I can see many refusing to act as collection points after a while so what do we do then? Will Royal Mail allow for redirection to the West Grange office (whilst it’s still open, can see that one closing too!) as that may be of help to some residents able to walk or catch a bus to it by way of using the 86 or catching the 2 what changes to a 13/A at Middleton which runs past it? Profit before people, don’t you just hate the rich!
It looks as though the postmen and women that I have spoken to were right, the decision had already been made and they had no intention of changing their minds. What happened to the public consultation, did anyone hear from Royal Mail asking for their thoughts?
Not having a car this decision will mean Royal Mail will lose some business from me because I will not order from anyone who delivers through them Instead I will purchase from other sources and go back to buying from shops instead.
I suppose we should be grateful that Royal Mail did not tell us that this move will enrich the customer experience as they did in their last statement. You do not make a service better by moving it further away.