The merger of two Islington post offices is a ploy to cut jobs, say union representatives.
Under current plans, the branches on Highbury Corner and Upper Street will be closed and will relocate to a different location in Upper Street.
“Fundamentally it’s about cutting jobs,” said Geoff Poole, a representative for the Communication Workers Union (CWU).
But according to Cathal Wogan, a Post Office spokeswoman: “No colleague will be made redundant should the proposed merger go ahead, and there will be no compulsory redundancies.”
John Batt, branch chairman of the CWU, agreed that no employees would be forced out of their jobs, but the belief of the CWU is that the new branch would be overstaffed.
“After three months, there will be a review, where they’ll cut back hours and redeploy people to other branches and positions,” said Mr Batt.
He added that current Post Office wages have been frozen in a bid to save money,
“But this doesn’t extend to senior management: In 2012, £15.4m was given to managers as bonuses. The chief executive was paid £797,000 including bonuses last year.”
Emily Thornberry, the shadow attorney general and Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury, has branded the merger as “nonsense”.
Ms Thornberry accused the Post Office of “running themselves into the ground as a business”, after it turned down £2m in 2010 from Islington Council to rebuild the office at Highbury Corner.
“It’s almost as though running the post office is too much bother for them,” she said. “If I sound hacked off and fed up it’s nothing compared to how fed up my constituents are. I cannot believe the levels of incompetence. It’s ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous.”
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