http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/oct/07/royal-mail-amazon-postal-strikes

maybe the posties are right to strike, but you have to wonder if there will be anything to deliver when they go back to work.

I concur.

I work for the business (not a postie 😉 ) and the general concensus is that it'll be a yes vote.
Absolute madness in my opinion. Trouble is, those of us not in the union think the senior management team are little better than the shower of sh1t union "leaders"!!!

good on amazon my experience in buying from them is second to none, and they should protect their brand.

Where as my recent experience of RM is they lose a parcel I provide receipt they say no money for you tails, also I send parcel they say it'll be delivered friday my buyer says it arrived monday.

Sad really as the post office is a very convenient service, perhaps they could remain but just sell postage for a number of different brands until the bad ones are weeded out and we could be left with something professional.

I said much the same in a CRC thread this morning.

Its not that surprising and wont be the last. And it wont be the management that feel it most. Some humility and pragmatic business behaviour from the unions is needed fast, before the company goes to the wall.

Stuff em, if Maggie was available she would sort them out. 😀

really though, when did striking ever sort things out for the workers?

I remember when the rail unions went on strike a long time ago, all the people using the railways for transportation said 'blimey, it's just one big union, they all go out and every single rail line dies, I'm not going back there again', and promptly moved their trade to the roads. The unions killed their own industry.

dickheads.

Name an industry where the unions have striked and then everything worked out nicely….

Someone remind me, which last big strike by any workers saved the service that they worked for?

HDN are rubbish. Won't be long before they stop using them.

blah blah blah….. listen here Tory boys we are trying to save the buisness from imploding.

The cuts that the so called senior management team are trying to enforce and have enforced in some offices are serious bad news and for customers ana posties.

WE are @ breaking point with the amount of work we have to do its a fair point that London are taking the piss with their action but country wide we are getting well stuffed.

Forget these bullshit Spanish practices that the media spout on about its not happening we generally work to "our" time and beyond,management are using bully boy tactics to force Posties to make their targets with no reward,overtime is virtually non exsistant with the use of part time casual staff who could not give a flying fu.k about what service they give, I know when I pick up the pieces after they have covered my duty after a weeks leave.

We are a public service thats getting shafted by the Government thats hell bent on privatising for profit, shame on New Labour @ least when the Torys are in we will know where we stand.

Hopefully I will still be around in to retrieve this thread in 5 years time when we are no longer a public service and remind the whingers on here how much they are paying for their parcels to be dropped off at a hub for them to pick up @ a rip off price.

Day off today an I need it, not stopped them ringing me up and asking me to work because they are short staffed……….tossers!!!!!!!!!

Rich telling you as it is, and No I cannot afford to strike but will willingly get up and shout shame on you @ 6am to anyone that is low enough to SCAB and cross that line.

I'm with rich on this and not a postie. It is a public service and should be ran as one, public services can be profitable but that should not be to the detriment of everything else

Rich, i am not saying that your not being treated badly etc, but i wonder if a strike is actually going to help. More stuff is being scanned and emailed as it is cheaper, quicker and more reliable than the post, more use of couriers because they aren't on strike, etc.

It is far harder to get business than to keep business, most people go for the devil they know rather than change. The company i work for is suffering because we have ****ed off customers by poor service, it takes a huge amount of effort to convince them to give us another go.

I am not saying i know an alternative, i just feel a strike will do more harm to RM.

posties shooting themselves in the foot?

which foot this time?

there are three contributors to the problem

government – management- posties

until they all decide to invest in the business and deliver a decent service then we are going to lose the benefit of the postal service which for me is actually quite good most of the time

IMHO the strike will achieve nothing and just hasten the end.

I support the postal workers. They seem to be the only people who care about the service. The goverment is all for running it down. The standards of services have dropped enourmously in the last few years – hardly any collections, the sorting office shut down at weekends, post turning up in the middle of the afternoon and delivered by almost anybody, in private cars. The employees must be sick to death of how a once admirable service is being deliberatly run down. Trashed so that the public will not object when it is sold off to the politicians profit-greedy pals.

Oh and for those who think Union action never did anything to improve pay, conditions and security for the general working class – go read some history books of what life used to be like for the poor, before collective action.

If the posties didnt drop the red rubber bands on the pavement they woud save a fortune and not choke small mammals.

Oh and for those who think Union action never did anything to improve pay

Yes. Did. Past tense. What about current times?

And postie will get little sympathy from me if my DX light is delayed anymore. 😀

Oh and for those who think Union action never did anything to improve pay, conditions and security for the general working class – go read some history books of what life used to be like for the poor, before collective action.

And then read some more about British Leyland, British Coal, etc.

My views are simple, the government needs to invest to provide a service, some things are services and should be treated as such, other things are businesses and should make money. But as the government has decided that privatisation is the way forward for the mail, IMO a mistake, the posties can't win and this sort of action will hasten the end.

I really don't know the intricacies of the current dispute with the posties so I won't comment on it direct all I can say is I hope they have good advice & leadership because the dealings I've had with the CWU were an eye-opener
They really were the most ill-informed, incompetent employee representatives I've ever come across, if it hadn't been such a serious matter [people losing their jobs] it would have been hysterical.

As with all disputes like this, don't let the pig headed ones influence the rest.
As Kenny Rogers once croaked – "You got to know when to hold em & know when to fold em"

I would love to give you an example of the calibre of management at R.M. that i experienced personally but….
All i will say is if thats what the management is like in the rest of the business it's no wonder it's in the state it's in.
Glad i took the money and run.

I was a postie for a couple of years, and Royal Mail were an absolute disaster to work for – manipulative lying bar stewards. Examples, being intimidated by line managers into unwanted overtime because of far too few staff, workplace bullying that going unchecked, that sort of thing. After one christmas my back started to give in (seems most posties have chronic back problems) and I had to take time off. Sympathy from Royal Mail, maybe some physio? Nope, I got a dismissal warning about my attendance. Little shites.

I'm behind CWU all the way.

I'm still of the opinion that anyone striking should be given the sack…I'm reading postierich's comments but as far as I can tell everyone who has to work to earn a living is in a very similar boat…most of those working don't strike though…this has been going on for ages, so either get it sorted and move on and start repairing broken bridges with the people who pay for the services OR suck it up and get on with repairing the bridges and getting a service that works and is reliable once again.

This isn't really a go at posties, I know they work hard, it's just a general shout in the air at anyone who thinks striking is going to help…I just don't see the advantages other than a few days off and a slightly more negative perception of those that work with you, around you and are serviced by you.

They'll be striking themselves out of their jobs. At least nobody will be in any doubt what 21st century unions are good for. Roll on RM MKII. I don't think the tories will have the balls to take on the unions head-on so we'd better brace ourselves for more picket lines. Back to the good old days then.

Privatisation after the election whoever wins

As ever the British public will fail to support a service and then, in 10 years, when TNT, UPS et al refuse to actually bring stuff to our doors on the basis that repeated delivery attempts to home addresses where no-one is in is not profitable we'll go all misty eyed and recount the days of the lads on red bikes schlepping about the place from the crack of dawn.

RM is stuffed as the govt want it to operate like the competition but also want to set price ceilings for the services rather than letting the market dictate what a first class stamp costs.

Working for a courier company I love it when RM goes on strike, we get loads more work. This is most welcome particularly in the current climate thanks guys.

I really hope Amazon don't start using home delivery **** more. They are a bunch of idiots who don't know their arse from their elbow.

As for striking, I feel it often does more damage than good. Better to have a crap company than no company.

The quality from RM may be variable, but in my view, the other couriers are far worse. So you should be careful what you wish for. The issue with RM is the management, not the posties.

To answer the specific point "Name an industry where the unions have striked and then everything worked out nicely…. "

I went on strike 2 years ago over plans to reduce my pension benefit. The result was that our benefit was increased.

" mossimus – Member

Working for a courier company I love it when RM goes on strike, we get loads more work. This is most welcome particularly in the current climate thanks guys. "

I would be interested to hear from anybody who worked in the private delivery companies about how bad their job/working conditions are, or any of the customers who have complaints about poor service…

Have they been on strike? I've been waiting for an important letter which was posted 25th Sep!

Pretty much every private courier firm I've had dealings with have shocking customer service
Most of them aren't particularly interested in domestic deliveries anyway

I'm talking about the likes of Interlink, DHL etc here not those motorbike firms etc.

it would be easier to get behind the posties if we actually knew what they are striking for – in clear concise reasoning.

from cwu "CWU is focused on defending jobs and public services. Modernisation should improve services not cut them"

"Postal workers are striking to defend future services as well as for jobs and modern conditions"

what does this really mean – the message is confusing and weak and as such us the general public find it difficult to have much sympathy.

Our postie is excellent so I'd really hope he doesn't get laid off…in fact the postal service round our way seems to be pretty good in general, first class post does appear to arrive next day, parcels are normally delivered and sorted out if we aren't in…at a very local level, I think the Postal Service is superb – but that is down to those working in my local area taking prie in their work and wanting to do a good job – I would hope that that isn't lost as once that is gone, anyone can do the job.

The Managment do need to get themselves sorted out but as I said before, I'm still not convinced striking is the answer – it disengenders the public to the cause as ultimately the public is loosing out and then there is a lot of goodwill lost…striking isn't the answer (but then my suggestion of firing anyone who strikes isn't the answer either!)

All credit to the RM's management spokespeople, they do not get off-message for a second. Heard one on the radio this morning who went straight into the "we have to modernise" spiel without even listening to the question.

The thing is, "modernise" means f–k all in this context except "milk more profits". You used to be able to post a letter between certain destination and have it collected, distributed by rail, and delivered the same day. Now you can't even get a delivery before 9 am unless you pay a premium. There is no reason for this, except the currently all-prevailing idea that public services are rubbish unless they turn a profit.

which foot this time?

This foot: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/6266846/Royal-Mail-accused-of-misleading-customers-with-Sorry-you-were-out-cards.html

Sack the lazy sods!

The quality from RM may be variable, but in my view, the other couriers are far worse. So you should be careful what you wish for.

That's fine, and I'm sure most people would agree with you and would like to see the Royal Mail back to its former glory, including the businesses that currently rely on them, but that what are they supposed to do now if they can't count on the service? The CWU might well have legitimate complaints (although their website doesn't do a great job of explaining them) but I can't see how driving the organisation into the ground is going to beneift their members.

we'll go all misty eyed and recount the days of the lads on red bikes schlepping about the place from the crack of dawn.

My postie arrives around 11 and won't even walk up the stairs with parcels.

I can vagely remember dustmen doing their rounds before the rush hour traffic began, now they appear to 8am creating gridlock blocking roads in both directions, and if I chose to have my milk delivered it would go off in the sun as I leave for work 3 hours before they'd bother to turn up.

Oh them were the days..

I can remember when you got post in the morning, even two deliveries on week days. Now it comes at 1pm.

Plus at my previous house I regularly got mail for the same number on a nearby street, and regularly didn't receive important letters, in one case an extremely important one. Complaining about this to the post office got me nowhere.

And why can't you collect parcels at a sensible time?

8am? Your luck. My bin men don't tend to turn up until lunch time.

Actually I don't really care about that: why does it matter what time they do it?

Still, union action very rarely has the desired effects, normally because it's out of touch with reality. 'My' union (I'm not a member) is currently pushing for an 8% pay rise ❗

Funny you should mention bin-men, that's a classic example of an essential service that's been put out to tender to private companies. The result is that the providers who win contracts spend the absolute minimum they can, pare the service to the bone, and make an unpleasant and dirty job even more unattractive. Also I'd wager that as a society we are throwing away noticeably more than we used to.