(Photo from the protest)
A group of people have been giving their support to post officers working at Sheffield South Delivery Office who they claim are under ‘extreme pressure’.
The Save our Posties group meet outside of the depot every Thursday morning, offering cakes to workers and hanging up banners which criticise the Royal Mail.
Kate Billington, 56, from Meersbrook, who runs the group, says post officers are struggling to find time for breaks, having been working harder to cover job losses.
She alleges post officers were told not to speak to the Save our Posties group about the Royal Mail by a former manager.
The group will be doing a demonstration of support on 8 December to highlight the poor working conditions for post officers in the area.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We are committed to restoring our quality of service to our customers.
“We have plans in place and dedicated teams responsible for improving deliveries in Sheffield and at our delivery offices nationwide.
“Since the summer, we have recruited more than 7,000 postmen and women and are continuing to recruit almost 500 permanent positions a week in delivery.
“To support the health of our employees and assist them in their return to work, we have introduced a wellbeing programme providing colleagues with free, confidential, and independent healthcare support.
“This includes unlimited 24/7 access to an online GP.
“In the lead up to Christmas, we are taking on 16,000 temporary workers, more vehicles and additional parcel sorting sites.
“This is to handle double the normal volume of parcels we expect over the period.
“These actions plus others are already making a difference in some areas and we are confident that they will continue to improve quality of service for our customers.”