Isle of Man Post Office: Tynwald backs plans to cut Saturday deliveries

CWU members are due to take strike action on Thursday and Friday

Most Saturday letter deliveries on the Isle of Man are set to be scrapped after politicians backed management's plans to reform the island's post.

Tynwald members voted in favour of a series of measures that are also likely to affect postal workers' pensions.

Isle of Man Post Office (IOMPO) chairman Julie Edge MHK said change was required because it is "uncompetitive due to high operational costs".

The organisation made a loss for the first time in its history in 2017-2018.

Bosses have said mail volumes have halved in the past 10 years, while the use of postal services is falling at an average of 7% a year.

IOMPO said Saturday deliveries were "not of key importance to the public", and scrapping them could save more than £500,000 per year.

'No compulsory redundancies'

Earlier this year, a consultation found 66% of the 2,737 people who took part supported the idea as a way of cutting costs.

Priority mail and parcel delivery services would continue on Saturdays.

Speaking during the three-and-half-hour debate, Mrs Edge said "no compulsory redundancies were envisaged" at IOMPO.

She added: "The reduction of mail deliveries to five days a week has already been adopted by many other postal authorities around the world."

IOMPO has not confirmed when it wants to introduce the changes.

A two-day strike by members of the Communication Workers' Union is due to start on Thursday.

The union is concerned about proposals to cut their terms and conditions.

IOMPO announced door-to-door letter deliveries will not be carried out during the walk-out, and urged people to post items early to avoid the disruption.