Attacks on postal staff
The CWU communications union says that deliveries were halted in several streets in Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands following two attacks on postal workers last month.
In both cases the postal workers were subjected to both physical and verbal aggression, leaving them physically harmed in one case, and badly shaken in the other.
Local union reps are concerned that the incidents are part of a more general increase across the country and could be part of a wider social issue.
A CWU area delivery rep told Workplace Report that deliveries had been suspended in four south east London postcodes following attacks on delivery staff over the last 12 months.
“Certainly in these instances they have occurred in poorer areas of the city which would be affected by government cuts,” said Stoke unit rep Chris Parkinson.
Another local rep, Bob Gibson, called on Royal Mail to prosecute anyone who attacks postal staff.