Postal Strikes. What do you think?

[JonB]

So the national strikes start next week?

What are your opinions of the Postal workers and more importantly the unions "representing" the workers?

My interpretation and this isn't going to be factual is that Royal Mail are struggling to make money, like they always have and thus are trying to modernise the way postal deliveries are made. Which will inevitabely cost jobs. The unions think that striking will somehow have the UK public in full support of them and watch the gradual decline of Royal Mail, in turn leading them to lose jobs anyway.

I'd even sort of argue that in this particular case the unions are a prime example of an organisation that holds too much power. I'd like to think that in this specific case they aren't a representation of the entire Royal Mail workforce, but if they are then it would just confirm that the posties are just workshy.
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[Ste]

I think their pay cheques should be posted to them using 2nd class post.

If they do actually strike next week then that'll be another nail in the Royal Mail coffin.

[Skudd]

The Postal Service as an institution is brilliant, a few pence get you are package delivered all over the country usually within 24 hours.

Some of the working methods of the postal workers are unbelievable, things like, start your shift early before a certain time then the rest of the shift is paid at overtime rate even if it is in normal hours and what you were due to work, work overtime so you can take what ever day you want off without affecting your normal days off and still get paid for them.

In this day and age i can't see why Postman Pat needs to deliver so early, nothing wrong with an 8-6 day shift for 99% of the mail.

The Unions are the last of the dinosaurs, there is no doubt unions in the past have done some good work and still do, but what they are doing here is just blind panic because they can see thier strength being eroded.

But what do I know, I'm self employed and can't afford to strike.
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[UnknownStuntm...]

I reckon it's clever marketing from Royal Mail management. Not much has been said to the reasons why everyone wants to strike, it's all very much told from the managers' point of view.

[Robby]

It's quite simple from my point of view.

If the company is in profit, don't do anything to the terms and conditions of the staff and keep going, with prices rises and staf pay rises in line with inflation.

If the company is not in profit, manage it through efficiency savings and more efficient equipment. Electric vehicles are a good example here, RM would be able to secure a very cheap deal to buy a large fleet of electric vehicles, and would be able to negotiate a significant government grant/tax break to invest in them. They have enough downtime to charge up, and wouldn't wake you up early in the morning like a diesel astravan chugging away.

Making significant cuts to the terms and conditions of existing works is the last thing to do. The civil service introduces changes, such as the changes to the pension scheme, to new starters only.

[Kwaks]

Kinda shooting themselves in the foot IMO.

They have some archaic working practices which need to be modernised, if RM is to survive then changes must be made.

Striking is not going to help, working to rule might have been the better option.

RM have a large pool of seasonal workers, as shown by their intention to bring in temps. In the short term it may cost them, however this is a strike they must break to save the service.
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[daemonoid]

I think it's spectacularly short sited of the unions. The RM is a failing business - they're being opened up to competition and they've been under pressure from other forms of communication for years (mainly email). By striking they're losing customer confidence... already amazon (RM's second largest customer) have switched to other delivery firms.

I can see the RM being in the hands of administrators very soon if things are not sorted out.
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[sickpup]

[Hetzer]

Anything that fvcks the money-whoring scum running the PO is fine in my book, and if it causes me some inconvenience (as it probably will) I'm fine with that too.

Don't be fvcking class-traitors.
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[map]

One story that I'm trying to recall from the radio. Basis outline is...

The postal workers start their shift by sorting the mail into the rounds. Then it gets delivered.
The management want to bring in a machine to do the sorting.
Therefore it gets done quicker, therefore nothing for the postal workers to do.
However, still need the same number of people to deliver the mail so no job cuts (as I understand it).
So the management want the postal workers to do something else in this freed up time.
For some reason they (aka CWU, the union) see this as extra work for their members and say they aren't prepared to do it.

Don't know if it's because it's extra work or they want more money for doing extra.

So whilst I have sympathy for the postal workers and the way they've been shafted in the past (pensions, Consignia, etc.) I have little grasp of their current beef. Their working practices with holidays, overtime, etc. do seem to need updating though (maybe as said, just for new starters at first ). Therefore I have little sympathy for it/them.

As for the Royal Mail I would like to keep it. As said, when I need to send anything it can be done quite cheaply and conveniently (high street Post Office rather than finding some out of the way industrial park courier depot). That said, the loss of some bits I haven't missed, Parcel Force Farce being one of them.

The management do seem to be able to put a good spin on the story threatening the demise of Royal Mail and IMO the CWU haven't put across a reasonable argument for their case.

Just my thoughts
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[Barry_M2]

[nowhere.elysium]

[pa_broon74]

Probably shooting themelves in the foot. There are going to have to be savings made and the Union is going to be intractable as usual.

It's the fault of the government for destroying the monopoly, now there are private companies moving in on the areas that traditionally subsidised the less profitable outlying areas.

It'll go the way of the Miner's strike. Lots of picket lines only this time, it'll be migrant workers crossing them and good deal of people who lost their jobs due to the current financial heehaw.

If they do strike, they've sort of shot themselves in the foot three times over.


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[colin1]

Post men do a simple job. The only reason to pay them more than minimum wage, is you dont want dishonest people. Random checks should weed out the dishonest.

The pensions for postmen are very generous. The main reason Royal Mail loses money, is pensions.

If I were a postman, I'd want to keep pay and benefits which are more than the job justifies. I dont know if London posties get more than the rest of the country, but arguably they should due to higher accomodation costs.

I'm not a postman, so I want them to have the similar shitty conditions that a guy working for ups or dhl gets.

I dont know the legalities of strikes and bringing in workers to do the work of striking workers. I suspect the royal mail scheme may be illegal, but I don't want mail delayed.

I'm not quite sure why the right to strike and have your job protected is enshrined in UK law. The only places I've worked, you have practically no employment rights, and there are no unions.

I suspect that unions protect employees who don't deserve protection, but on the other hand, maybe I should get myself into a unionised profession, as they seem to make a lot of money by controlling supply and demand.

Train drivers in particular.
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[stinkwheel]

They are pissing on their chips.

A strike will mainly inconveniance their customers. The thing is, the profitable part of their business (advert deliveries and parcel/courier type work) are going to be the least inconvenianced, they will shift their business elsewhere, carry on as normal and will be slow to come back.

The ordinary people who use the door to door letter service have no other option and have to keep using RM, but that's not where the money is.

So, once again, striking workers will be screwing themselves out of a job. It's a great Birtish tradition in times of recession, drive your employer into bankruptcy through industrial action then complain when you no longer have a job. They did it most effectively in recent history with British Leyland.

Meanwhile, Mr. Darling has his greedy eye on the pension pot.
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[s44678]

How about hearing it from the side of the posties:

https://www.lrb.co.uk/v31/n18/maya01_.html


I fully support them. I'm sick of this government's mantra that 'private' can always do a better job of a public service. Trains, schools, prisons and now the postal service. Such a cock of shite. Yet another essential service put in the hands of companies whose sole objective is to return a profit to shareholders rather that serve us.

If the Unions are to be believed (why would they lie?) then the government and the RM management have been colluding to f*** the negotiations up and keep the strike on, knowing it will cause the RM to lose more business in the short term and simply speed up the process of it being divvied out to private business in the long term.

[Pussy Magnet]

Their such twats they just randomaly choose to make a strike.
anyway their just putting down their own business!!!!!!!

[Jamrock]

I think they are really stupid. Reading a few articles has made it quite clear to me that a large majority of people striking are doing it to be greedy cunts. They have spent all day outside the front of the post office causing a slow down in service for the public and drinking cheap larger listening to music. Now I say large majority quite sparingly but every picture/article I've read which has creditable sources this seems to be the case.

I hate to describe it like this but it seems like a bunch of idiots following a band wagon because they think they're going to benefit from it. I highly doubt many of them hate their jobs more than the average person and I highly doubt many of them would strike if they were told they were going to be fired.

I'd personally fire every single person striking, sending them a letter via first class recorded stating that they can fuck off if they want a reference and that I hope they enjoy unemployment. This country has turned into a massive joke recently and striking over petty issues isn't solving anything, increasing their workload and encouraging the RM to hire 30,000 temps makes me laugh.

Reading that article is interesting as well. The issues the writer seems to be complaining about is different to the issues a lot of workers are striking about. Complaining about bad working conditions and over weight bags, additional work load and extra hours work upaid is cruel. But it seems to me it's like taking a holiday with the benefit of having a pay rise at the end!

[MaybeGuy]

give me my post. fuckers.

parcelforce FTW
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[Didge]

[Villers]

Im annoyed by the postal strikes. Im pissed off that the crap I buy off the internet, or the cheque I sent away for my holiday accomodation is late. Its a complete pain in the arse....

But....

For me to be pissed off that this 'person' or these 'people' are abondoning a job they owe to us is slighlty hypocritical. At the end of the day I'm looking out for myself, and for my interests. I want what I paid for and I want my service.

On the other hand these men/women are doing exactly that. From what Ive read some of these people have a passion for their job and take some care in their work. Obviously there are some that won't, just like many cases. They do what i do each day, roll out of bed and trudge towards a job that they possibly dislike in order to put food on the table and buy a pint of a Friday night.

For me to criticise them for not delivering my mail to me is no better than them saying 'Im not going to deliver it unless..'. These folk dont go to work to get fucked over anymore than I do. I have an option to walk out, so do they, but you can only take so much.

The ethical question is a difficult one. They are not just upsetting their employers, they are causing grief for many more people who have done nothing to deserve it. They are also depriving the general public of something they need. Its similar to the fire strikes in that manor.

I'll admit though I recently paid extra for an item to be delivered by an independant private company rather than risk it with royal mail. Perhaps these strikes speel the end for another long running institution
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[UnknownStuntm...]

[Raffles]

[Dragonfly]

Most companies are now using couriers now I have noticed , stating on their sites the strike wont effect them. They are loosing business for themselves. And people wonder why the polish are given jobs here more.
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