Last updated at 16:20, Sunday, 25 October 2009

POSTAL picketers claim they are scared to speak out for fear of being bullied at work.

Postal workers across the country hit the picket lines yesterday and Thursday because of a deadlocked row with Royal Mail management over jobs, pensions and modernisation.

In Barrow, strikers were out in force on Rawlinson Street bearing placards.

But when approached by the Evening Mail yesterday, the group said they could not give their names for fear of reprisals at work.

One picketer said: “You’re being constantly picked on, you’re watching your back every second.”

His colleague said: “We’ve been told that there’ll be consequences if people talk out of line, so there’s a fear of speaking out in case something happens to your job.”

Their claims have been backed by Barry Bowes, assistant branch secretary for the North Lancashire and Cumbria Communications Workers Union (CWU), which initiated the strikes.

Mr Bowes said: “A lot of workers are scared. Because of the current financial climate we are losing member after member under the discipline process faster than we ever were. I can fully understand why some of our members would refuse to be identified.”

Union members are also hitting out at bosses over “modernisation” plans, which they say would involve job cuts, a higher workload for those staying on, and drastic changes in their working hours.

One Barrow picketer said: “The things they’re bringing in aren’t what they agreed to. We want modernisation, but not this way.

“You can’t say we aren’t flexible, but these new decisions are a step too far. We’ve changed what we do three times in the last seven years, changed the number of deliveries, the time of them, the size of them and the times we start and finish work – and they’re still not happy.

“There’s no structure to what they’re doing, no agreement. They just bring it in whether we like it or not, and it’ll be us that has to clean up the mess, not them.”

He added: “If those changes go ahead, you’ll be getting your mail at five in the afternoon. At the end of the day, we’re protecting this service. It’s one of the best public services they’ve got and they want to wreck it.”

The Evening Mail asked Royal Mail about the bullying claims – but they did not comment about the allegations.

But Royal Mail managing director Mark Higson did dismiss the union’s claims that they have the public interest at heart.

Mr Higson said: “It’s appalling that the CWU has called still more strikes in its determination to damage customers and ruin the UK postal service.

“Any pretence from the CWU that they care about customers or the future of the postal service is now shown to be totally dishonest.

“We have an agreement that was reached on Tuesday night and we had an agreement in 2007 on which the union reneged – the real issue is not about getting agreements, it’s about the CWU leadership’s ability to deliver and honour them.”

Mr Higson also said it was “totally outrageous” for the CWU to accuse the company of reneging on a deal when it was the union that had walked away.”

More strikes are set to take place next Thursday Friday and Saturday.

First published at 10:39, Saturday, 24 October 2009
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk