County Derry postal worker hits out at Royal Mail over alleged 'bullying'

A County Derry postal worker has said he and his colleagues are 'all at rock bottom' after claiming managers told them they will not receive sick pay when they are off work.

The local worker's claims come almost two weeks after staff took part in a 48-hour strike.

The man, who did not want to be named, also claims that Royal Mail bosses have put in place an overtime ban, which he says is putting postal workers under further pressure.

Speaking to the County Derry Post, the man described Royal Mail's treatment of local workers as 'disgusting', and branded bosses 'bullies'.

“In the past when we were sick we just followed procedure which was to phone in that morning to let the manager know, but about two weeks ago, out of the blue, the manager said anyone who phones in sick is not getting paid.

“If you phone in sick you normally get a self cert for seven days but they aren't accepting that. They now want you to provide a doctor's letter on the very first day or you are not getting any sick pay. They are just completely ignoring the whole system of self certification. Who can even get to see a doctor these days anyway?

“I could ring my health centre 60 or 70 times on repeat and it's engaged every time, or I could finally get through and be told that all the appointments are gone for the day and to try again tomorrow morning and then it's the same the next day. I understand the doctors are under pressure. I'm not blaming them, but we are now adding to that pressure because Royal Mail wants us get a doctor's letter before we can get paid.

“One of the other workers was sick recently and they had a lot of bother trying to get a doctor's letter as the doctor was telling them to self cert as they were only off a couple of days. He was trying to explain to them that Royal Mail wouldn't pay him unless he got the doctor's letter. It was a battle with the doctor to try and get this letter.

“Another worker tested positive for Covid and couldn't afford to lose their pay by taking time off. When they told the manager this they told them to come in and work otherwise they wouldn't be getting paid.

“No-one knows when they are going to take sick. With so much sickness going around at the minute, I could take a flu and be really unfit for work and ring in and be told you're not getting paid without a doctor's letter. It puts more pressure on workers. It's just bullying tactics by Royal Mail, that's what it is.”

Since September, Royal Mail workers have been taking part in strike action over pay and the company's plans for structural changes like cuts to sick pay, proposals to close the office where parcels are collected, changes to working hours and inferior terms for new employees.

While no strike dates have been planned for the coming weeks, the man believes further action will take place in March.

“We don't want to be out striking,” continued the man, who said postal workers have had 'plenty of support from the public'.

“There were lots of parcels late over Christmas and when people were out asking us about them, they were telling us to stand by our guns and they said that we need a payrise.

“We are all at rock bottom now. This treatment towards us is disgusting. It's just bullying and pure greed from those running the company. They just want to cut costs and get more bonuses for themselves.

“I want to see someone in a position of power hold them to account – not accepting the statutory sick procedure is just illegal, it's not right. Royal Mail just have a history of doing what they want.”

The man also claims Royal Mail recently announced an overtime ban which he says puts an extra strain on staff.

“In the past when you were really busy and it took you longer than your hours to get everything delivered, you could have stayed out to get finished and then claim overtime hours. Then they told us no more overtime so now we are having to bring hundreds of undelivered letters and parcels back to the office,” he said.

“Royal Mail are under this Universal Service Obligation – they have to deliver all the mail six days a week by law. Our office was coming down with undelivered letters and it just didn't seem to get reported to those in charge.

“They truly don't care. People are constantly enquiring about their hospital letter or parcel that still hasn't been delivered but they don't know about the managers who just don't care. They break the Universal Service Obligation, it doesn't mean anything to them.”

A spokesperson for Royal Mail denied that there had been any changes to their sick leave or overtime policies, and instead claimed they provide the 'best pay and conditions' in their industry.

“There has also been no change to our existing sick leave policy. Any member of staff with genuine and necessary absence for sickness on a strike day will continue to be paid. We have seen increased sick leave on and around strike days, and on occasions, we might request a doctor’s note, or, for example, a positive Covid test result, to confirm the reason for absence. Overtime also continues to be available to colleagues when it is required, depending on our workload at any given time,” said the spokesperson.

“We are proud to provide the best pay and conditions in our industry. In an industry dominated by the ‘gig economy’, insecure work, and low pay, our model sets us apart and we want to preserve it.  Despite losing more than £1million a day, and already offering a package that pays up to 40% more than our competitors, we have made a best and final pay offer worth up to 9%.  This has been rejected by the CWU.”