POSTAL workers are being treated in an awful way by “faceless HR staff who now run the company,” Communication Workers Union (CWU) delegates have said.

An emergency motion warning of an “out of control and unaccountable” fifth column within Royal Mail was passed unanimously at the union’s annual conference in Bournemouth today.

Plymouth and East Cornwall delegate Ralph Ferrett said: “Anyone who is old, anyone who is sick, who is awkward — [HR] see it as their job to get rid of them.”

Regional organiser David Banbury said: “We are in an awful state at the moment, the way our members are being treated in the workplace.

“HR are running the company, they are running managers.”

Nottingham and district Simon Edmunds added: “We have got to make sure we have accountability for these faceless people.”

Delegate Robert Howells added: “People have got disabilities through Royal Mail’s lack of health and safety [awareness] — now they are being penalised because they cannot quite meet targets.”