They were responding to workers’ fears that the company was engaged in a crude cost-cutting exercise and that the quality of service to customers would suffer.

Claims were also made that the Dundee West and East delivery offices were already short of staff, and that in recent weeks mail has been delivered only by the goodwill of staff working on days off and by managers drafted in from other offices.

The workers consider the company would do better in Dundee by employing the proper staff, training them and giving the public the service they are due.

Nationally Royal Mail are engaged in an exercise to restructure new posts — assessing whether full-time posts which fall vacant need to remain full-time or should be changed to part-time.

This is because of a fall in the amount of work that needs to be done in delivery offices through new technology.

Now about 60% of mail arrives in depots already machine-sorted, leaving only 40% to be organised into rounds by postmen and women.

With less indoor work to be done, Royal Mail believe they don’t need so many postal workers on 40-hours-a week contracts. That is why the company is changing some, but not all, full-time posts that fall vacant to part-time 30-hours a week posts.

A Royal Mail spokeswoman continued, “We are not asking any current member of staff to reduce their contracted hours. When a vacancy arises, the hours for the post are aligned to the workload of the office.

“This is a nationwide move agreed through our industrial relational framework to make our whole operation much more efficient.”

She clarified that it was not the case that the two Dundee offices were under-staffed. Managers had been called to deliver mail at Dundee East, but only because of its high absence rate.

Ballot papers have been sent to 280 postal workers in Dundee who are being asked to take industrial action in protest at what has been presented as a down-grading of full-time posts in the west and east delivery offices.

The Communication Workers’ Union said he ballot will close on January 18 with action — which could include strikes — likely afterwards if members vote for it.