On Tuesday, to celebrate Postal Workers Day, Seema Malhotra MP joined Gill Furniss MP, the Shadow Postal Affairs Minister, in thanking local posties for their hard work and dedication in collecting, sorting and delivering post during the busiest period of the year.

Seema Malhotra MP said “Under the Tories, our Posties have faced worsening pay and conditions. Over the past four years the Post Office has been implementing a series of significant cost-cutting measures with closures, franchising, job losses and cuts to staff terms and conditions.

Meanwhile, there is an ongoing dispute going on between the Royal Mail and CWU Postal Workers who are fighting for better pay and conditions. Indeed, since privatisation of the Royal Mail in 2013, 12,000 jobs have been lost, a fifth of its mail centres have closed and over 50 of its delivery offices have shut with more due to follow. Meanwhile, they have paid some £700 million in dividend to its private shareholders.

Labour will always back our posties. We will halt the managed decline overseen by the Tories and stop the cuts of our Post Offices in our towns and cities. We will also renationalise the Royal Mail, which was sold at below market price by the Tories in 2013, so that profits are put back into the business again to the benefit of workers and consumers, not private shareholders.”