ANNOUNCEMENT : ALL OF ROYAL MAIL'S EMPLOYMENT POLICIES (AGREEMENTS) AT A GLANCE (Updated 2021)... HERE

ANNOUNCEMENT : PLEASE BE AWARE WE ARE NOT ON FACEBOOK AT ALL!

DM26 - Attention of Martin Walsh

Postal workers discussion forum. Discuss the day to day life in a Blue Shirt.
Barnacle
Posts: 2930
Joined: 13 Dec 2022, 16:58
Gender: Female
Location: Earth

Re: DM26 - Attention of Martin Walsh

Post by Barnacle »

Perseus wrote:
11 Sep 2026, 17:45
TopperGas wrote:
11 Sep 2026, 17:40
Perseus wrote:
11 Sep 2026, 13:30
Don’t even know if anyone with any sway within the CWU has read any of this thread, but seeing as how our office has been in various forms of trying different ways of working with fewer staff numbers due to vacancies for years now, (which is what the end game of DM26 is), I thought I’d chip in with what works and what doesn’t work in that regard.

Shared van in a pod - doesn’t work. The amount of time ‘saved’ by doing 1C and tracked on one side is no way enough to be taking 2/3 of another run on heavy and light. Even with the extra time that has been bolted on to each day with the longer days for more time off.

Single van in a pod - your best chance of it working. No waiting around for a partner that may/may not be in, complete control of workload and how you do it, able to cut away and do specials etc, often little to no travelling to a far flung area to do your extra 1/3 as it will be on that frame anyways.

Singletons doing 50/50 - the only thing that its working for is the individual as they aren’t willing to help out, and I don’t blame them really as it’s an easier gig for them. There is no money to be saved by getting people to work like this unless you massively increase their duty size.

In short, you need to make as many duties ‘singles’ as possible, and not the singletons type of doing 50/50 - the ‘pod’ type.

Might be different elsewhere.
Why are singletons doing 50/50 being given a choice to not help out? In our DO we're being given a set amount of extra work to do each day.
Poor management accepting that people are now 'too busy' to do extra, when they always used to clear their duty. With the longer days and only doing 50/50 there is up to 2 hours freed up per person working this way.
*Only doing 50/50*
Across the week that is delivering their whole walk. There’s no ‘only’ about it and they will be doing extra
’You can't just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they'll want something new.’
Thommo44
Posts: 286
Joined: 10 Nov 2018, 13:00
Gender: Male

Re: DM26 - Attention of Martin Walsh

Post by Thommo44 »

Pfrizzy10 wrote:
07 Sep 2026, 21:05
Barnacle wrote:
07 Sep 2026, 20:47
billy2004 wrote:
07 Sep 2026, 20:43
:Applause
Pfrizzy10 wrote:
04 Sep 2026, 18:25
Do people ever stop complaining on this platform? Get a life and stop worrying about this job. Start on your time, deliver what you can deliver within your hours and go home. If mail sits in frames for a year, who gives a flying bollocks? It’s not our problem!
A quarter of jobs are going. Start looking.
There’s a quarter right here on this site who hate the job and detest everything Royal Mail, I’d assume they will be first to volunteer
Only a quarter?

But if the voluntary redundancy payments were the same as last time they will all volunteer, as will a lot more.
Moaning about the job is not the same as seriously wanting out
SpacePhoenix
MAIL CENTRES/PROCESSING
Posts: 12161
Joined: 12 Nov 2008, 17:03
Gender: Male

Re: DM26 - Attention of Martin Walsh

Post by SpacePhoenix »

toonshola wrote:
09 Sep 2026, 16:38
Don’t hold your breath for a reply from Martin. The bloke hasn’t done a delivery in decades, he has no idea what we go through now on deliveries. All he knows is numbers and percentages and the real world can get in the bin.
I genuinely don’t think him and Dave give two sh***s anyway, both are nearing retirement with a very generous pension awaiting them. Hand on heart I don’t think I would care either.
Probably even MC staff have a better understanding of what happens in DOs than what Martin has.
Perseus
Posts: 1153
Joined: 21 Feb 2024, 16:45
Gender: Male

Re: DM26 - Attention of Martin Walsh

Post by Perseus »

Barnacle wrote:
11 Sep 2026, 19:55
Perseus wrote:
11 Sep 2026, 17:45
TopperGas wrote:
11 Sep 2026, 17:40
Perseus wrote:
11 Sep 2026, 13:30
Don’t even know if anyone with any sway within the CWU has read any of this thread, but seeing as how our office has been in various forms of trying different ways of working with fewer staff numbers due to vacancies for years now, (which is what the end game of DM26 is), I thought I’d chip in with what works and what doesn’t work in that regard.

Shared van in a pod - doesn’t work. The amount of time ‘saved’ by doing 1C and tracked on one side is no way enough to be taking 2/3 of another run on heavy and light. Even with the extra time that has been bolted on to each day with the longer days for more time off.

Single van in a pod - your best chance of it working. No waiting around for a partner that may/may not be in, complete control of workload and how you do it, able to cut away and do specials etc, often little to no travelling to a far flung area to do your extra 1/3 as it will be on that frame anyways.

Singletons doing 50/50 - the only thing that its working for is the individual as they aren’t willing to help out, and I don’t blame them really as it’s an easier gig for them. There is no money to be saved by getting people to work like this unless you massively increase their duty size.

In short, you need to make as many duties ‘singles’ as possible, and not the singletons type of doing 50/50 - the ‘pod’ type.

Might be different elsewhere.
Why are singletons doing 50/50 being given a choice to not help out? In our DO we're being given a set amount of extra work to do each day.
Poor management accepting that people are now 'too busy' to do extra, when they always used to clear their duty. With the longer days and only doing 50/50 there is up to 2 hours freed up per person working this way.
*Only doing 50/50*
Across the week that is delivering their whole walk. There’s no ‘only’ about it and they will be doing extra
When? Certainly not quite a few weeks into this in ours.

We are in agreement that a duty pre DM26 that could complete every day, should have capacity to assist when going 50/50? Of course unless it is wildly rural. It was the most obvious thing to note within a few days of going 'live'. There is nothing in place to ensure staff help out in ours, nothing at all.

Another take on it, from the other thread at the top of the pge about bringing tracked back. Here is a quote from another postie:

"all the 50/50's can't believe there luck while us in the pod have been given around 2 hours 2 much work each day I am working to time at the minute, around 50 tracked getting failed daily, I have asked a manager if they can come out with me to show me how to do it obviously they didn't."

I've seen countless posts on other platforms saying how uneven the workload has become due to the 50/50 singletons not being utilised.
Barnacle
Posts: 2930
Joined: 13 Dec 2022, 16:58
Gender: Female
Location: Earth

Re: DM26 - Attention of Martin Walsh

Post by Barnacle »

Perseus wrote:
11 Sep 2026, 20:20
Barnacle wrote:
11 Sep 2026, 19:55
Perseus wrote:
11 Sep 2026, 17:45
TopperGas wrote:
11 Sep 2026, 17:40
Perseus wrote:
11 Sep 2026, 13:30
Don’t even know if anyone with any sway within the CWU has read any of this thread, but seeing as how our office has been in various forms of trying different ways of working with fewer staff numbers due to vacancies for years now, (which is what the end game of DM26 is), I thought I’d chip in with what works and what doesn’t work in that regard.

Shared van in a pod - doesn’t work. The amount of time ‘saved’ by doing 1C and tracked on one side is no way enough to be taking 2/3 of another run on heavy and light. Even with the extra time that has been bolted on to each day with the longer days for more time off.

Single van in a pod - your best chance of it working. No waiting around for a partner that may/may not be in, complete control of workload and how you do it, able to cut away and do specials etc, often little to no travelling to a far flung area to do your extra 1/3 as it will be on that frame anyways.

Singletons doing 50/50 - the only thing that its working for is the individual as they aren’t willing to help out, and I don’t blame them really as it’s an easier gig for them. There is no money to be saved by getting people to work like this unless you massively increase their duty size.

In short, you need to make as many duties ‘singles’ as possible, and not the singletons type of doing 50/50 - the ‘pod’ type.

Might be different elsewhere.
Why are singletons doing 50/50 being given a choice to not help out? In our DO we're being given a set amount of extra work to do each day.
Poor management accepting that people are now 'too busy' to do extra, when they always used to clear their duty. With the longer days and only doing 50/50 there is up to 2 hours freed up per person working this way.
*Only doing 50/50*
Across the week that is delivering their whole walk. There’s no ‘only’ about it and they will be doing extra
When? Certainly not quite a few weeks into this in ours.

We are in agreement that a duty pre DM26 that could complete every day, should have capacity to assist when going 50/50? Of course unless it is wildly rural. It was the most obvious thing to note within a few days of going 'live'. There is nothing in place to ensure staff help out in ours, nothing at all.

Another take on it, from the other thread at the top of the pge about bringing tracked back. Here is a quote from another postie:

"all the 50/50's can't believe there luck while us in the pod have been given around 2 hours 2 much work each day I am working to time at the minute, around 50 tracked getting failed daily, I have asked a manager if they can come out with me to show me how to do it obviously they didn't."

I've seen countless posts on other platforms saying how uneven the workload has become due to the 50/50 singletons not being utilised.
That is a manager issue. That is them not managing the workload and distributing it across everyone.

50/50 doesn’t necessarily mean it takes you less time, it just means you are fulfilling OFCOMs changes to delivery of the USO.

How much extra time a 50/50 has to do a bit extra depends on the duty pattern picked
’You can't just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they'll want something new.’
norris9
Posts: 2687
Joined: 27 Feb 2019, 17:32
Gender: Female

Re: DM26 - Attention of Martin Walsh

Post by norris9 »

Perseus wrote:
11 Sep 2026, 17:45
Poor management accepting that people are now 'too busy' to do extra, when they always used to clear their duty. With the longer days and only doing 50/50 there is up to 2 hours freed up per person working this way.
How the heck are 2 hours freed up? are your days 1 and a half hours longer now?

I can understand a town round freeing up a decent chunk of time, but with rurals it would be tough to free up 20 minutes unless you get lucky with the calls you have on a given day.
Perseus
Posts: 1153
Joined: 21 Feb 2024, 16:45
Gender: Male

Re: DM26 - Attention of Martin Walsh

Post by Perseus »

norris9 wrote:
12 Sep 2026, 00:35
Perseus wrote:
11 Sep 2026, 17:45
Poor management accepting that people are now 'too busy' to do extra, when they always used to clear their duty. With the longer days and only doing 50/50 there is up to 2 hours freed up per person working this way.
How the heck are 2 hours freed up? are your days 1 and a half hours longer now?

I can understand a town round freeing up a decent chunk of time, but with rurals it would be tough to free up 20 minutes unless you get lucky with the calls you have on a given day.
Pretty much, yes. Most offices have longer days between 1 and 1.5 hours depending on the shift option chosen. And also not every singleton 50/50 is fully rural, certainly not in ours.
TopperGas
Posts: 3471
Joined: 13 Feb 2021, 22:46
Gender: Male

Re: DM26 - Attention of Martin Walsh

Post by TopperGas »

norris9 wrote:
12 Sep 2026, 00:35
Perseus wrote:
11 Sep 2026, 17:45
Poor management accepting that people are now 'too busy' to do extra, when they always used to clear their duty. With the longer days and only doing 50/50 there is up to 2 hours freed up per person working this way.
How the heck are 2 hours freed up? are your days 1 and a half hours longer now?

I can understand a town round freeing up a decent chunk of time, but with rurals it would be tough to free up 20 minutes unless you get lucky with the calls you have on a given day.
There's simply no logic in suggesting a rural only delivering 1c and Tracked on 50% of their duty is only freeing up 20 mins on average, that's the type of nonsense managers must be accepting.
raXor
Posts: 70
Joined: 09 Jan 2025, 16:02
Gender: Male

Re: DM26 - Attention of Martin Walsh

Post by raXor »

Barnacle wrote:
11 Sep 2026, 21:02
That is a manager issue. That is them not managing the workload and distributing it across everyone.
Of course it is, which is why good people leave all the time once they see that they're being shafted good and hard.

It is natural for people to be comparing themselves to others in life. Work is no different. Personally i'm sick and tired of being on the shafted list of people who constantly moves between heavy town van shares each day because they fail every other day. It means i'm getting at least triple mail every day on a different job whilst the majority of others have a consistent 50/50 single duty that goes out every day. And a lot of those people on the easier jobs have been in the business for well less than 1 year...... talk about seniority!!
Krafty
Posts: 88
Joined: 13 Sep 2013, 14:27
Gender: Male

Re: DM26 - Attention of Martin Walsh

Post by Krafty »

So glad I left the union when they screwed us over the last time we went on strike.
Perseus
Posts: 1153
Joined: 21 Feb 2024, 16:45
Gender: Male

Re: DM26 - Attention of Martin Walsh

Post by Perseus »

TopperGas wrote:
12 Sep 2026, 10:42
norris9 wrote:
12 Sep 2026, 00:35
Perseus wrote:
11 Sep 2026, 17:45
Poor management accepting that people are now 'too busy' to do extra, when they always used to clear their duty. With the longer days and only doing 50/50 there is up to 2 hours freed up per person working this way.
How the heck are 2 hours freed up? are your days 1 and a half hours longer now?

I can understand a town round freeing up a decent chunk of time, but with rurals it would be tough to free up 20 minutes unless you get lucky with the calls you have on a given day.
There's simply no logic in suggesting a rural only delivering 1c and Tracked on 50% of their duty is only freeing up 20 mins on average, that's the type of nonsense managers must be accepting.
People got ultra defensive about how much time they could save in their 50/50 even before a ball was kicked.
50/50’s clear every day in ours without exception. They have no extra work and are given more time to do their current job. The pods are getting smashed every day with 1/3 more work over the week and mail piles up.
mafiaman
Posts: 84
Joined: 02 May 2020, 17:29
Gender: Male

Re: DM26 - Attention of Martin Walsh

Post by mafiaman »

Don't know if you can split large offices in walks of say 24. We got 24:walks in ours but the way we use to operate before this stupid dm26 was you have 2 walks which could be lapsing walks. (2 on van share then you have trolley a duties if a light day you would split the lapsing duties .some would take with there normal walks if they thought they could complete.if some left over overtime could clear.But now with the later finish times a doubt overtime staff will be too happy to do overtime especially with the colder dark nights in winter and the hot summers.One slight problem was trolley duties would finish early than van share because of workload therefore they would have to take more lapsing
Barnacle
Posts: 2930
Joined: 13 Dec 2022, 16:58
Gender: Female
Location: Earth

Re: DM26 - Attention of Martin Walsh

Post by Barnacle »

mafiaman wrote:
13 Sep 2026, 14:04
Don't know if you can split large offices in walks of say 24. We got 24:walks in ours but the way we use to operate before this stupid dm26 was you have 2 walks which could be lapsing walks. (2 on van share then you have trolley a duties if a light day you would split the lapsing duties .some would take with there normal walks if they thought they could complete.if some left over overtime could clear.But now with the later finish times a doubt overtime staff will be too happy to do overtime especially with the colder dark nights in winter and the hot summers.One slight problem was trolley duties would finish early than van share because of workload therefore they would have to take more lapsing
So you have 24 duties.
That means you need approx 28 staff as a minimum.
RM want to reduce your staffing.
Take a quarter of duties out. So now it’s 18 duties in their head.
You now need 21 staff.
Also if they can pair staff up to reduce vans, even better.
Workload isn’t even being considered by RM managers.
’You can't just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they'll want something new.’
ted_e_bear
Posts: 4094
Joined: 03 Sep 2012, 19:37
Gender: Male

Re: DM26 - Attention of Martin Walsh

Post by ted_e_bear »

10 days and 147 comments later I don't think he's going to reply :hmmmm
toonshola
Posts: 913
Joined: 29 Jul 2011, 16:31
Gender: Male

Re: DM26 - Attention of Martin Walsh

Post by toonshola »

ted_e_bear wrote:
13 Sep 2026, 15:13
10 days and 147 comments later I don't think he's going to reply :hmmmm

He doesn’t care. Like his superior Ward he’s scammed the membership initially during his election campaign and then during the last ballot for this Shambles of a pay/uso deal. Him and Ward are now in a position to skulk around in the shadows on abhorrent salaries for the next few years after which they will no doubt retire on fat pensions we could only dream of. The kind of damage done to our jobs and terms and conditions over the next few years with these two in charge will be devastating.