TOMMOROW (Wednesday) a giant 200ft postcard will appear outside Bromsgrove’s Crown Post Office in the High Street to highlight the concerns over its potential closure.
Postal workers and politicians are raising awareness of the crisis facing the post office which they claim is pursuing an aggressive closure and privatisation programme.
The card, which will also visit venues including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Paisley, Manchester, St Helens, Cardiff, Bristol and London over the course of the week, will be on the side of a double decker bus carrying the message of local MP and Communities Secretary Sajid Javid asking the government to ‘protect the heart of the high street’.
The post office has announced the closure of 64 crown post offices this year already bringing hundreds of job losses and cutting services to communities across the country.
The communication workers union has called for a strike ballot in response to the latest cuts.
Dave Ward, CWU general secretary said: “Our post office is in crisis.
“The British people are being robbed of a public asset and public service by the drip-drip of closures.”
Post Office representatives met with Mr Javid last month and the MP voiced residents’ concerns over the closure
A spokesperson for the Post Office said following that meeting: “We know keeping Post Office branches on high streets and at the heart of communities is hugely importantly to people and the reason we are looking at potentially franchising Bromsgrove Crown Post Office is to help us to do this.
“We need to operate more cost-effectively so that services are protected into the future – we cannot look to the taxpayer to subsidise our Crown Post Office branches.
“We are addressing the same challenges as other high street businesses including fast-changing customer needs and rising costs such as property.”
She added when the detailed proposal had been finalised, the organisation would tell its affected staff and there would then be a six-week public consultation on the proposals so customers can convey their views on the proposed location and other aspects of the plan before a final decision was made.
“The vast majority of our Post Office branches are already run on a franchise or agency basis,” she added.
Visit www.cwu.org or https://www.facebook.com/ThecommunicationsUnion/ and on Twitter #PeoplesPost @CWUnews to follow the bus tour.
Story by Hayley Soen.
