Just thought I would post this as the media seems to be slanting towards Royal Mail and the public view is that we are striking all because of the pay freeze.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeeUpkqXL9c

So why exactly are you striking this time?

Why don't you watch the video spoony ? Or is it just a wind-up ?

50/50

some of us are at work and cant go on youtube

I've watched a good solid 3.5 minutes of it. I don't understand the industry and I don't have much understanding of the union mindset either I don't think. I've never worked anywhere with that sort of culture.

The sad fact of the matter is that our sorting office seems to have been doing official and unofficial strikes for long enough, and the post is now unreliable enough, that we are not using Royal Mail for anything important at all. All our important post is going either with couriers or electronically.

Maybe if that response is widespread management will back down and give you what you want, but I'm pretty sceptical.

OK, well to sum it up in just a few words, this quote by the CWU deputy general secretary says it all imo :

" Modernisation should improve services not cut them. "

Mmmm, soundbitey.

The Royal Mail is broken. It needs fixing. Who should get the job of sorting it? The unions or the management?

What was the starting point here? It appears that the complaint is that you need to work harder for longer but if it was an easy life before then maybe its now just like other jobs? I know that reads a bit inflammatory but that video doesn't actually give an example of a postal workers typical day so I don't know what to base it on.
The company I work for has made many people redundant this year yet is making record profits (whilst our competitors are in trouble). There is actually more work and less people so everyone is working extra hours unpaid (I assume postal workers get overtime?).

Finally I think that many of the public find it hard to symphathise with a strike over pay and conditions when so many people have been made reduntant and want to get back to work.
I do think the government (labour and tories) have really messed up on the Royal Mail but the horse has bolted and there will be no Royal Mail if the two side don't sort this out once and for all.

2.5m unemployed (and rising) and the postal workers think that striking is the solution… wow, now that's what I call brave

Hell, handcart, etc…

The Royal Mail is broken

How can a company which makes huge profits be described as "broken" ?

we tried that line with the modernization of the fire service. and since weve already lost a number of fire stations , had hours changed, working routines altered come jan noone knows where they stand as the whole shift/leave system is overhauled . whole time stations are now day manned or even retained in places. and we are now way short of standard staffing. all in the name of modernization. and weve not a leg to stand on to argue with as the union agreed what was in effect a blank sheet of paper agreement for us to go back to work for ;-( further stations are due to be lost too. at least the union rep got 4 promotions out of it all ****

hope your union are more honest than ours rich just be careful what you go back to it might be worse than youve already got

How can a company which makes huge profits be described as "broken"

Because they should be delivering (Ha!) a service, rather than being a money making exercise. It is still virtually a monopoly and it shows.

From the outside it looks like neither the Posties on the streets nor the suits in the head office give two poos what they are there for.

Sack every single one of those who are not willing to go back to work for 8 hours a day, starting Monday. Hire new staff from the large pool of unemployed we have at the moment.

Maybe Maggie should climb out of her David Cameron suit, would get my vote.

Postierich – What is your stance? Strike or get back to work?

Postman Pat was still on CBeebies this morning.

Scab.

Who is going to leave my gates open? Who is going to litter the streets with rubber bands? Who is going to deliver my post to the wrong address?

These are all serious questions, we really should consider what is happening here…..

Perhaps posties would be better off wearing clogs (or sabots as some call them) to work so that they may throw them into this new beast of iron and steam in an attempt to put one over the mill owner, I mean management, for daring to want to drag the postal services of this country kicking and screaming into the 21st century rather than p*ss off the people who rely on it.

Because they should be delivering (Ha!) a service, rather than being a money making exercise.

Well the unions want to keep it as a service, and the management wants to turn it into a money making exercise ripe for privatisation.

So the answer to your question : "Who should get the job of sorting it? The unions or the management?" it would appear that it is the unions.

……. I'm glad we've sorted that out.

*Spits tea over keyboard*

Well, if that's your view you might as well pack up your shorts now.

if that's your view

I'm sorry……. I thought it was your view ? 😕

….. am I going on holiday btw ?

The CWU are the union that a lot of out techie guys are in
We've just been through a few redundancies & I had the [unenviable] task doing all the admin side of things for some of the guys, telling them why they need to go & what the company will help them with etc.
CWU guys have been present at all but 1 of the meetings I've held, what a bunch of incompetent idiots!
There were times when I felt like objecting & questioning stuff that I'd said myself, I was actually pausing & waiting for them to jump in for clarification, most of the time they didn't

Postierich – I hope the ones that look after you are better than the lot they sent to our meetings

Ernie – Are you sure that the unions are purely interested in the provision of a good service to the public? Could there be a little bit of "ooo, all those union subs we could be losing" in there as well?

Unions employ people too, they have a 'customer base' to protect.

(sootyandjim – Married to a union rep and in a union himself, which may suprise some I've no doubt.)

Are you sure that the unions are purely interested in the provision of a good service to the public?

If they were, I'd not be wanting to pay subs to them.

Are you sure that the unions are purely interested in the provision of a good service to the public?

Absolutely. It is completely in their interest to do so. And they are of course customers themselves. The evidence that it is in the interest of management to put service before profit, is somewhat weaker.

ernie – missed my point by some margin, I think.

A new broom is required at RM. Unions prefer things to be left as they are.

Do I need to draw you a schematic diagram?

The evidence that it is in the interest of management to put service before profit, is somewhat weaker.

(Good) service is profit, without one the other suffers. At least thats how it works in a sectors of industry without a single supplier enjoying such a monopoly.

cheers_drive – Member

What was the starting point here? It appears that the complaint is that you need to work harder for longer but if it was an easy life before then maybe its now just like other jobs? I know that reads a bit inflammatory but that video doesn't actually give an example of a postal workers typical day so I don't know what to base it on.
The company I work for has made many people redundant this year yet is making record profits (whilst our competitors are in trouble). There is actually more work and less people so everyone is working extra hours unpaid (I assume postal workers get overtime?).

The main complaint seems to be that RM is actually sugesting paying them for the hours that they do work.

The following is quite funny though a bit old

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/oct/12/postalservice

Do I need to draw you a schematic diagram?

You could try that.

In the meantime, I'll remind you again of what you said :

ScottChegg – Member

Because they should be delivering (Ha!) a service, rather than being a money making exercise.

Posted 28 minutes ago # Report-Post

Posties and firemen. Last bastions of old school union idiocy.

We're still waiting for the "efficiency savings" that were to be brought in after the last fire strike 5(?) years ago. Why should we believe that posties will be any different.

Automated sorting? Just a means of ensuring that the post gets to the address stated, unlike the present when post goes anywhere(especially the interetsing looking things)

(Good) service is profit, without one the other suffers.

Like the NHS ?

Royal Mail makes plenty of profit btw.

Its all about job and knock isnt it? basically when they go out for their second round they dont have to report back so they just dump the post in the nearest post box to be done in one hit the following day …and knock off – now theyre wanted to report back after delivering and dont like it . Been standard practice for years apparently….

I work in an office that has gone through the modernization that the Royal Mail wants to inflict on ever office in Britain.
All routes have been Geo planned(Pegasus)8 fulltime jobs lost out of 76
Start times changed from 5am till 6.15am
First letter delivered 7.30am now 10am if you want it before 9am you have to pay extra !!!!
Any full timers (40hrs) leaving the buisness are replaced by 20hr contracts and all they do is take the mail out, its all prepped(put in order to deliver)for them.We have lost 5 people in 3 months.

I,m no shirker to a bit of work but the workload is incredible and no place for old un,people are resorting to using their own cars because of the lack of infastructure like safe bag drops and proper vehicles to transport people out to their deliveries.

The managers have targets and I have just been told(I,m the CWU rep) we need to make an 11% saving on our budget for next year,which is totally unachieveable.Apparantly the mail is down 10% each year maybe from people directly going through Royal Mail and using TNT etc but we still have to deliver the competions mail for a scanderlously low fee.

We will get a yes vote and I will be on the gate but a few people will scab it but @ the end of the day we will be out for the right reasons and for everybody that works for Royal Mail as I for one want to work in an environment to be treated fairly and not harrased and bullied to make fat bonus cheques for a few people @ the top.

Rich
Hope it makes sense and no I cannot afford to go on strike but I cannot afford the union to be torn apart and be unrepresented in the workplace.

chatsworth weve had our efficiency savings weve lost around 300 fireman, 4 stations other stations have gone parttime and our leave is due to be **** come jan . but all the savings have been pumped into giving out free smoke alarms and deepfat fryers

Ernie – Comparing the Post Office to the NHS is neither a fair nor practicable comparison. You may as well compare the PO to the armed forces whilst you're at it.

……and our leave is due to be **** come jan

does that mean I'll have to get a new window cleaner? 😉

Ernie – Comparing the Post Office to the NHS is neither a fair nor practicable comparison.

I wasn't. I was showing that (Good) service isn't necessarily profit.

i rather sympathise with postierich, i would vote yes if i was him, and i see no reason why good service and good working conditions should not go hand in hand in this case. moreover i always thought that the '10% drop for the last however many years' was baloney, i mean come on! that just sounds like pants.

i worry that the stakes for the workers are very high though if the ballot comes out no, or if the strike gets broken. goodluck!

as an anecdotal aside, postierich's blue bike is pure class, my postman is a lovely man, i never have had any problems sending packages and post offices are great (though city and country POs tend to be great for different reasons)

In an organisation not designed to make any profit of course it's not.

And yes sooty, Royal Mail makes plenty of profit :

Royal Mail makes profits of £900,000 a day as it shuts thousands of post offices

Quote :

The healthy financial performance is likely to trigger large six-figure bonuses for the management team, including chief executive Adam Crozier.

It also stands in stark contrast to the losses posted by high street banks. Earlier this week Royal Bank of Scotland posted a record loss of £28billion for last year.

well if you window cleaner chooses to clean your windows after his 48hr week then you may do 😉 dunno where hes posted but i sure dont do any work in my off time