Dorset hit by postal chaos

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Dorset hit by postal chaos !

Union bosses have warned of postal chaos after a 24-hour walkout brought deliveries to a standstill at one of Dorset's main sorting offices.

The strike at Poole's Dorset Mail Centre was as a result of a breakdown in relations between the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and Royal Mail management.

At the Poole depot yesterday workers manned a picket line from 5am.

Mr Clash, secretary of the Bournemouth & Dorset CWU, said no mail left the BH or DT postcode area as a consequence of the strike, and with 24-hour strikes planned for the Poole and Alder Hills delivery offices on Saturday, the likelihood is that postal services will be distrupted well into next week.

Mr Clash said there will be a backlog after these strikes so it will be a good few days before services are back to normal. Coupled with other localised disputes across the country, particularly in London and Bristol it is believed there will be chaos across the postal system.

The industrial action in Poole is a response to a change in working practices and the loss of 30 phased out  Dorset Mail Centre jobs, all of which are part of Royal Mail's modernisation plans.