POSTAL workers in Crewe will go on strike tomorrow (Friday) in a battle to save their jobs.

Hundreds of workers at the Weston Road sorting office will join in a 24-hour walkout days before the last posting date for Christmas.

Union chiefs have apologised to the public for the action, but said they were left with no choice by Royal Mail bosses who want to transfer the Crewe jobs to a new centre in Warrington.

Steve Wright, branch secretary for the Communications Workers Union (CWU), said: “Everyone is sad to have had to take this action and no one likes to be losing money before Christmas.

“But we are determined to put as much pressure on the company to reverse this insane decision.

“All along they have had this blunderbuss approach and will not sit down with the union to find a way forward.

“The fact is that there is simply no national structure. If you were to look at their plans for the business they would be like a mad kid’s scrawling.”

He said that three alternative sites available in Crewe have been put forward by the borough council but dismissed by bosses ‘out of hand’ as unsuitable.

He added: “They have said the current site is too small, but that’s just a smokescreen. Basically they just want us to move to the building in Warrington.

“We’re sorry to the people of Crewe who have been so supportive but our decision to take strike action at this time of year hasn’t been taken lightly.

“We have chosen Friday because if we had walked out before we would have interrupted the Christmas flow a lot earlier and we didn’t want to do that.”

CWU officer Ian Taylor added: “The decision taken by Royal Mail fails to recognise the real concern members have for their livelihoods, particularly as we enter a nationwide recession.

“The impact on local economies will be devastating.

“We believe that Royal Mail’s plans have been drawn up without any real joined-up thinking about how the changes will affect the rest of the network.

“These changes will see a decline in the quality of service we provide to our customers with later deliveries, fewer and earlier collections.”

Carl Webb, CWU regional secretary, said: “Royal Mail’s aggressive action has led to the unfortunate timing of this action.

“We want a sensible agreement that protects the service we provide but also takes into consideration Royal Mail’s employees’ concerns.”

Royal Mail chiefs say the closure of Weston Road is necessary as it is not big enough to house new equipment and cannot be expanded.

A company spokesman said: “We are asking all our people to get on and deliver the Christmas service our customers want and deserve.”