POSTIES voted overwhelmingly yesterday in favour of ensuring that part-time Royal Mail employees working full-time over Christmas are entitled to a seasonal bonus.

The motion called on the union executive to “seek an agreement with Royal Mail that secures the payment of the Christmas bonus, in full, for all staff who receive the bonus regardless of contracted hours.”

Glasgow's Stuart Davidson said that “many part-time staff work over their contracted hours throughout the year” but, because of childcare and other issues, many were “unable to increase their hours during the qualifying Christmas period to achieve the full Christmas bonus.”

John Carson, also from Glasgow, said the motion was “about unfairness, the idea that you can work all year and yet at Christmas, through your own personal circumstances, you’ve been unable to take advantage of the extra hours at Christmas.”

He said that resulted in “a double whammy [as] you’re then not getting the full supplement at the end of that.”