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Sunday postal collections ended Sunday postal collections ended
(1 day later)
The Royal Mail has ended Sunday postal collections after 17 years in what it says is a bid to improve efficiency. The Royal Mail has ended Sunday postal collections after 17 years in what it calls an effort to improve efficiency.
It says mail was collected from only a sixth of its 118,000 post boxes and just 50 business customers on Sundays. It said mail had been collected from a sixth of its 118,000 post boxes and 50 business customers on Sundays.
Accounting for just 1% of all mail posted, items collected on Sundays cost four times as much to process as those collected on other days. Accounting for 1% of all mail posted, items collected on Sundays cost four times as much to process as those collected on other days, it said.
The Communication Workers Union says the move will erode postal services and cut the earning potential of staff. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said the move would erode post services and cut staff's earning potential.
It comes as thousands of postal workers are set to start voting on a new deal on pay and conditions after a series of strikes. The move comes as thousands of postal workers are set to start voting on a new deal on pay and conditions after a series of strikes.
'Pursuit of profit'
Royal Mail reintroduced a Sunday collection in 1990.Royal Mail reintroduced a Sunday collection in 1990.
Royal Mail says it is now operating in a competitive postal market and stopping the Sunday collection was a way of reducing costs "with the minimum of disruption". The firm says it is now operating in a competitive postal market and stopping the Sunday collection was a way of reducing costs "with the minimum of disruption".
"Given the disproportionate cost of providing Sunday collections, and the low importance many consumers attach to such collections, ceasing this service makes commercial sense," it said."Given the disproportionate cost of providing Sunday collections, and the low importance many consumers attach to such collections, ceasing this service makes commercial sense," it said.
The company has insisted it needs to modernise to survive as a business in the highly competitive mail industry.
But a CWU spokeman accused Royal Mail of "another reduction in the public service, caused by the race to the bottom with competition and the pursuit of profit".
"The union again calls on the government to undertake an urgent review of the impact of competition on postal services."