The postal sorting office in Great James Street where mail is piling up due to a shortage of staff
They say some mail, including important medical documents, have been lying in the Derry sorting office at Great James Street for up five days before being delivered.
And they blame local management for not recruiting staff over the summer holidays to cover for workers taking their holidays.
One local postman said: “I work in the Derry office and I think the people of the city need to know that there is widespread problems with the post in the city.
“Lots of areas are not getting daily deliveries.
“Some areas are going several days without mail.
“Letters can be undelivered for up to four or five days.
“This is down to the fact that the management has not employed any summer staff to cover summer leave.
“We do have a few off due to Covid but again no extra staff employed to cover this.
“It is important to know the fault does not lie with your postman but entirely with management, both locally and in Belfast.
“I have seen lots of important letters left for days: doctor appointments, Covid tests, bank cards and statements, and travel documents.
“Please know that Royal Mail should not be allowing this to happen.”
Derry Daily contacted Royal Mail for comment on the issues affecting Derry mail deliveres.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “The health and safety of our colleagues and our customers is our number one priority.
“In a limited number of areas, we are experiencing some disruption to service due to COVID related absences.
“In impacted areas, we are focused on providing as comprehensive a service as possible to our customers.”
In October last year there was a stand off between staff and management over a deep clean of the sorting office site which employs around 120 people.
At the time over 40 staff were off work because of COVID-19 – 17 were Coronavirus positive and a further 25 were self-isolating.
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