Royal Mail workers could be asked to check up on vulnerable residents during rounds, despite some postal staff relying on foodbanks and struggling to make ends meet themselves.
The scheme will be trialled in Northumberland, with Royal Mail's chief executive telling The Times their "great, trusted teams see things that others don't" because they "go everywhere, every day". Paul Chadwick, who's worked for Royal Mail in sorting and delivery for 42 years, agrees because "people get to know the customers, people get to know everyone in that little community".
The 58-year-old, who's been invited to meals and Christmas nights out by customers, added: "It's always been a matter of pride to have been treated like that. Now, obviously with people using foodbanks, it's now getting to the stage where people are rushing around to get the work done. They don't have as much time to speak to people on the ground. But they'll go back in their own time and they will help people."
READ MORE: 'Scared' strikers struggling to pay bills 'can't afford not to strike'
Paul is secretary of the Warrington Mail Centre Branch of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which is currently balloting its more than 115,000 members working in Royal Mail for strike action. The union said Royal Mail is imposing a 2% pay rise on workers, with the postal service saying it "offered a deal worth up to 5.5% for CWU grade colleagues". Both are below the current inflation level of 9%, set to rise above 11% in October, according to the latest Bank of England forecast.
Royal Mail paid £400m to shareholders in 2021, after making profits of £311m in six months of that year, according to the Mirror. Last year, chief executive Simon Thompson received a total annual pay and perks package worth £753,000. This included a "short-term" bonus of £142,000, even after industry regulator Ofcom said it had to look into the postal service's failure to meet delivery targets over the past year.
Meanwhile, the average Royal Mail driver and delivery worker is around £18,000 to £22,000, according to Indeed. Paul, who lives in Crosby, said the shareholder payouts and executive pay package are a "slap in the face" while some of his colleagues rely on foodbanks. He said one woman withdrew the last of her savings from a credit union to buy nappies for her baby. Having to direct people to food pantries "is a very sad state of affairs". Paul warned: "It's here amongst us now. People in poverty are people who are working."
He's "still very proud to work" for what he sees as a public service, even after the postal service was privatised in 2013. It "was a good company to work for", according to Paul, who said: "As a company, they have tended to pay us in line with inflation. Now what they've done, they've imposed a 2% pay rise, which in real terms is a pay cut. That leaves a bad taste in our members' mouths.
"For me, it means having to choose where I shop. It means having to choose where I eat. It means having to choose when I can put my heating on and when I can't put my heating on. It means having to choose how I travel to work. It means having to choose what bills get paid first. It's prioritising things unnecessarily."
Royal Mail managers, represented by Unite, voted to strike later this month in a dispute over jobs and pay. They're among many groups - including rail workers, criminal barristers, bus drivers, nurses and teachers - who have already gone on strike or are threatening to do so as their wages stay stagnant in the face of soaring costs.
Paul said: "I think this is a unique moment, that inflation is so bad, the fuel prices are so bad, everything is so bad. I mean, we haven't even touched the winter year when people are going to be getting these horrendous bills in. I think everyone can relate to this now."
A Royal Mail spokesperson said it "offered a deal worth up to 5.5% for CWU grade colleagues, the biggest increase we have offered for many years, which was rejected by the CWU". According to the Mirror, it said it's open to further negotiations to prevent a strike and wants to "secure jobs for the future and retain our place as the industry leader on pay and terms and conditions".
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