POSTMEN and women in Worcestershire went out on strike today, claiming that they were being overworked by Royal Mail bosses.

Their one-day action follows yesterday’s strike by sorting office staff.

Angry union members took it in turns to man a picket line outside the Worcester mail centre and delivery office in Wainwright Road, Warndon, from 5.30am yesterday.

The two strike have been organised by the Communications Workers Union over pay and working conditions.

Speaking from the picket line, postman Paul Bosworth, aged 47, of Norwich Road, Ronkswood, said job cuts were making the workload unmanageable – a claim his employer Royal Mail denies.

Mr Bosworth said: “People are expected to work past their finish times for nothing. They pressurise those who don’t want to do overtime. “In Worcester, we’ve had a postman actually collapse and he was diagnosed with exhaustion.”

“The reality is that some of them are going out for hours carrying 16 kilograms and they are walking without toilet or meal breaks.”

Lee Duffy, a postman in Warndon Villages, said: “When I first started at Royal Mail 13 years ago what we’d class as a bad day was going out with two or three bags of mail.

“Now we are regularly going to work with between six and eight a day in rain, wind, snow and blistering heat.”

Mr Duffy, 34, of Church Road, off Rainbow Hill, said: “Nobody wants to lose any money and go on strike but they know we’ve got to do it so we can have a bit of a say in our futures.”

A spokesman for Royal Mail said she could not discuss individual cases but added: “We have robust procedures in place to care for our people when they are away from work through illness and on their return to work.”

"Everything we ask our people to do is reasonable and all the changes we are making – which have been already been implemented at many offices around the country – are in line with both the letter and the spirit of the 2007 pay and modernisation agreement on flexible working practices."

Yesterday Royal Mail said its door was still open to find an agreement with CWU to avert today’s action, but last night there were rumours that further strikes could be planned for next week.

While Post Office workers were striking, staff at Worcester’s couriers and private delivery firms were rushed off their feet.

Bob Foundling, owner of Mail Boxes Etc, in Friar Street, said: “The phone has been manic since first thing this morning and people are coming in.”

The company is offering a special promotion to ensure people can courier items at a reasonable price during the strike and afterwards.

Jackie Potter, at Interlink Express, Blackpole said: “Normally we deal mainly with businesses but in the past couple of days it has been quite a lot busier. A lot of people are trying to get important letters delivered, particularly lawyers and solicitors.

“We’ve had more enquiries for the last week and a half.”

John Stubbins, MD of JGS Couriers, Lower Broadheath, near Worcester, also reported a rise in enquiries.