BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
FROM UNION REP No. 1:
I have had a vast number of staff that has been forced to wear cycle helmets complaining to me that there are suffering from headaches and sore chins from wearing these items.
They would probably be more well received by professional cyclists who are entering for the Tour De France. These things are dangerous and impracticable for any post person to wear. I have found that you bang the
front of the helmet on the door where you have a low letter box, and as this piece of equipment spends more time hanging around the handle bars than on our heads it make the job of a postman even more dangerous than it was before. The CWU and Royal Mail have got this so wrong, no thought has gone into this, and in the fullness of time when somebody has got the guts to stand up and say We got this wrong we can all hand them back in.
Why has the person that has had this brainwave only half kitted us out. If we are to be treated like
mountain bikers, what about knee and elbow protectors or don’t these bits of the human anatomy count?.
FROM UNION REP No. 2:
The biggest complaint I’ve been getting from cyclists at our [delivery office] is posties who wear glasses have great difficulty seeing in wet weather conditions. They used to wear a issue baseball cap to help shield their specs but helmets offer no protection. Tried to get them to boycott the wearing of these helmets but
this went down like a lead ballon with management and CWU.
FROM POSTAL WORKER:
We were never given our legal right to choose. I have since found out from our local constabulary H.Q. that any manager harassing a postie on a public highway to wear a helmet is in fact commiting a criminal offence under the Public Order Act, which incudes harassment, threatening behaviour, breach of the peace and stalking. They may be charged with any of these offences and if found guilty will end up with a criminal record. It may also be seen as BULLYING and HARASSMENT by management, which is a topic high on Royal Mail’s agenda.
