THE consultation over the future of Wokingham town’s Post Office has been described as “a sham” after WH Smith advertised for staff at its “new Post Office.”
Officially, Royal Mail is still considering whether to relocate the Broad Street branch to a counter within WH Smith’s Market Place store.
Two Post Office officials will meet John Redwood MP and Conservative councillors next week in the latest attempt to save the Broad Street premises.
But there is anger that the move is already a done deal and that postal staff could be made redundant or be forced to take a pay cut if it goes ahead.
In its advert at Reading Job Centre as well as online, WHSmith says it is looking for “individuals with a passion for delivering exceptional customer service to join our Post Office within our Wokingham WHSmith High Street Store.”
The posts are both full and part time with a pay of “up to £7.83 per hour.”
The minimum wage rate for employees aged between 21 and 24 is £7.70 and £8.21 for those aged over 25.
Ian Warrick, the area safety advisor for the Communication Workers Union expressed concern that both services and workers rights would suffer if the Broad Street Post Office is closed.
“In Maidenhead, [part of] Theresa May’s constituency, most of the experienced staff left and the Post Office had to bring in a manager from Kent to help train the new employees,” he said.
“The quality of service and staff conditions suffered and there’s no reason to believe the same wouldn’t happen in Wokingham. Staff probably would not be in the Post Office pension and would have to work on Sundays and Bank Holidays.”
Sir John Redwood, Wokingham MP, was scathing of the decision to look for staff.
He said: “WH Smith should not be advertising positions in a possible Post Office within their new store while a consultation is underway. Many customers wish to object to the closure of the existing Post Office and are offended by this premature move.”
Cllr Andy Croy, leader of the Labour group on Wokingham Borough Council said: “We have known from the very beginning that the Post Office is not interested in a genuine consultation. From day one I have said the Post Office are not open to listening.
“It is rather desperate and sad to see a string of local politicians giving the illusion of action and thinking they can persuade the Post Office to change their minds.
“The Post Office want to ram this through without regard to what the people of Wokingham think. There is overwhelming opposition to the loss of the Crown Post Office.
“It is important to remember that the Post Office is a state owned company. It is indirectly owned by all of us. We are all being punished for the sake of the privatisation.
“John Redwood needs to intervene at the Ministerial level with the Minister responsible for Postal Services. He still seems to be talking to the monkeys and not the organ grinder and it is simply not good enough.
“The Post Office will ignore him as they ignore every other MP.
“The sad fact is we are reaping the fruits sown by the Lib Dems and Tory coalition. Vince Cable was the minister responsible for separating the Royal Mail from the Post Office and John Redwood was happy enough to vote for it in Parliament. It is now time for him to make amends.”
“On Monday, the Post Office will be holding a public forum at the Methodist Church in Rose Street. I will be there to make it clear – we want to keep our Crown Post Office where it belongs. I urge other residents to do the same”
Cllr Philip Mirfin, executive member for regeneration at Wokingham Borough Council, also described the consultation as “a sham.”
“Consultation? What consultation,” he added. “I feel the Post Office has been very mischievous not listening to the concerns of the people, councillors or MPs but rushing ahead with their own decision. They have paid lip service to our views. We will have some very strong words to say to the directors at next week’s meeting.”
Cllr Imogen Shepherd-DuBey, Liberal Democrat councillor for Emmbrook said: “The move is not a done deal until it happens.
“However, if it goes ahead, we must insist that the same level of service is offered at WH Smith’s as we have at the moment and that there is adequate room and facilities for people with a disability.
A Post Office spokesperson said: “This is normal practice, and it is not the case that this pre-empts any final decisions about moving a branch. Once a branch goes into consultation, both Post Office and the potential new operator begin all the detailed planning for the move. This includes getting planning permission and starting the recruitment process.
“Planning permission sought for any branch would only be actioned by the potential new operator if the proposal went ahead, and any recruitment is conditional upon the proposal being approved. The reason this detail planning is done at an early stage, ahead of a final decision, is that we know, should the decision to move the branch be made, it is much better for our staff and the community that the transfer proceeds without any unnecessary delays.”
“Regular visitors to the Wokingham branch will no doubt know the branch team as friends and want to know they are being supported through these changes. We care about our people and we are keeping the team fully informed and discussing their options with them.”
The drop-in consultation event takes place at Wokingham Methodist Church in Rose Street on Monday, February 18 between 4pm and 7.30pm.
