The Chamber, on behalf of its members, is appalled by the refusal of mail sorters to do their job. It has emerged that Sorters work just three hours a day but are paid for twelve hours. Now they are refusing to perform a task that they are paid to do, open the mailbags. What sort of fantasyland are these people living in?

For many local businesses 2009 has been a tough year: the strength of the euro has eroded traders’ margins, reduced consumer spending has led to a drop in sales and the global recession has forced some members to make job cuts. To learn that a small number of workers in the postal service are refusing to open mailbags which is part of their job just beggars belief.

For the Union to claim that this issue needs to be settled through arbitration is ridiculous. If you have to arbitrate for this then every decision will become subject to arbitration. A more relevant issue to consider is how the union defines a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay. Arbitration is a red herring and an unnecessary diversion. The Sorters just need to get on and do their job.