Chaos

[SpacePhoenix]

Has there been a load of posties arriving back before their time in the past? It might be that higher up have seen many arriving back before their time on the PDA actuals, added up that amount of time and then ordered the DOM to take that time out of the office

[Woody Guthrie]

Has there been a load of posties arriving back before their time in the past? It might be that higher up have seen many arriving back before their time on the PDA actuals, added up that amount of time and then ordered the DOM to take that time out of the office

You've been told many times that this is not how a revision works, you can only take hours out of an office that the planning tools tell you are there to take out.

"Higher Ups" whoever they might be are not interested in what time people are arriving back whether it's early or late. They're interested in volumes and resource.

These revisions don't have pre-determined savings targets, they are based purely on what the planners say an office needs combined with a level of efficiency improvement.

They fail because the initial planning is flawed and poorly implemented, the managers, reps and planners don't know what they are doing, the planning values are fundamentally unrealistic and to be fair in some cases some members are next to useless. Harsh but we all know it's true.

[SpacePhoenix]

They're interested in volumes and resource.

Well it's different in MCs, where budget is king. If they think they can cut some hours out on a given shift, they will. tbqf it's probably only a matter of time before the same happens in DOs

[Woody Guthrie]

They're interested in volumes and resource.

Well it's different in MCs, where budget is king. If they think they can cut some hours out on a given shift, they will. tbqf it's probably only a matter of time before the same happens in DOs

We've been through the pre-determined budget driven revision phase for 20 years but they're table top revisions and not based on what time members get back from delivery, they're based on what time members get out on delivery because it's the indoor that gets gutted.

[SpacePhoenix]

They're interested in volumes and resource.

Well it's different in MCs, where budget is king. If they think they can cut some hours out on a given shift, they will. tbqf it's probably only a matter of time before the same happens in DOs

We've been through the pre-determined budget driven revision phase for 20 years but they're table top revisions and not based on what time members get back from delivery, they're based on what time members get out on delivery because it's the indoor that gets gutted.

Budgets aren't so simple in MCs. As well as the MC budget, each shift has got its own budget and within each shift, each work area also has it's own budget. In theory staffing is supposed to be down to traffic forecasts, but the traffic forecasts are always lower than the actual

[Chelseablue]

They will also tell you a 60 year old should be doing the walk in the same time as a 20 year old . Age never taken into consideration . Putting in longer walks knowing some staff are struggling with duties as they are at mo is an issue too .

[grumpazoid]

Sorry to drag up an old thread but, after the week I've just had, I need to vent.

As I've previously mentioned, I deliver almost exclusively to a rural village area that, until recently, had their own small DO round the back of the local Post Office. Within the last year this site was closed and, along with another small rural office, it was absorbed into the larger DO in the nearest town centre.

This has resulted in an extremely cramped working environment with barely enough room for the additional frames necessitated by the arrival of these additional duties. Between the busy hours of 0700-0900, when most of the sorting is being done, the office becomes dangerously crowded. Not only are we all working on top of each other when sorting parcels and working at the IPS frames, but there are often several Yorks filled with parcels blocking aisles and major thoroughfares on the shop floor. There are several frames that haven't been touched for days, around which trays of unsorted letters and drop-bags filled with parcels continue to accumulate, resulting in numerous trip hazards. Getting from one side of the office to the other just to get to the toilet can be an absolute nightmare, so god knows how chaotic it would be in the event of a fire.

"Work Time Learning" takes place in the smallest office in the building, with 20+ individuals crammed inside for each session. There is barely enough space for us all, with most people have to stand in the centre of the room. Management are quick to jump on anyone who dares to mention their concerns regarding the lack of social distancing, highlighting the fact that such restrictions are no longer applicable. This would seem highly questionable as we enter the cold/flu season, not to mention the ever present threat of Coronavirus. Add to this the fact that many of us in our DO are within our first year of employment, meaning that we do not qualify for sick pay. Do they not realise that many people will be coming to work with cold/flu symptoms and spreading their germs around the office?

Most of the vans at our DO are in a disgusting state, inside and out. Some are simply not roadworthy, yet continue to be used. Recently, a customer pointed out to me that one of the rear sidelights on my van was not working. Upon returning to the DO, I wrote this in the log book and raised it as a new fault on my PDA, which required the name of a manager in order to correctly log it. I should add that this was on a Sunday and, by this time, the manager who was supposedly running the show had long since vanished, leaving one of their lackeys in charge. When I mentioned the fault to him he responded "F**k it, leave it, whoever's using that van tomorrow can deal with it".

For some reason, although our rural village area is now part of a larger DO, it is still treated very much as it's own entity. It is staffed only by a small group of us and is left to spiral out of control when anyone from that group is absent. Last Thursday several members of our team were off. This was not some sudden bout of sickness, but it just so happened that several team members' rest days and annual leave dates coincided. When I started at 0700 I was informed by a colleague that no-one had been doing the inward sorting for our area. Ten minutes prior to my arrival he had asked a manager "Where is everybody?" and, only at this point, did they realise that they had next to no staff working on our area. I was told to do the inward sorting of tracked parcels, something in which I have had no formal training and soon found that I was extremely slow as I had to consult the "idiot board" frequently.

At around 1000 I finally started to prep my own duty and, after tracking down our line manager, it was agreed that everything bar the tracked and specials would be left. Since then, my walk has not recovered. As tracked items continue to be prioritised above everything else, loops of letters and large quantities of un-tracked parcels have remained in the office. On most days, our line manager is nowhere to be found. Rarely, if ever, does he check to see how we're getting on with our prep or attempt to gauge the volume of work with which we are dealing from one day to the next. Generally, even though he is physically in the building, I will not see him from 0700-1000 when I am prepping my walk and I have to hunt him down in order to have the awkward "I will not be able to complete" chat with him before I start tying up. Unsurprisingly, his default position is "Take it all out and see how you get on". The walk (which is so massive that I cannot complete it within my duty times, even on the lightest of Tuesdays, if I am not out of the door by 0930 at the latest) has not been cleared for almost a week now. I have subsequently decided that I am no longer prepared to come in two hours early to prep the walk, nor will I be working beyond my contracted finishing time.

I could go on, but it's just too depressing. What a sad state of affairs.

[nightcrawler]

The way a lot of delivery offices are run is quite frankly shocking. All the managers seem to care about are tracked. They’re not worried about the 6 boxes of letters under someone’s bay that may contain hospital letters or birthday cards. We need something like Panorama/dispatches to send someone in under cover and expose to the public how poorly this company is run.

[Kenfandango]

Ah I am in exactly the same situation, only the area was absorbed a good few years back. Despite this it is still run as its own entity, and often the people on it are openly mocked and criticised by other postie's for helping one another out (under the belief that if you help someone today and they're ill tomorrow, you'll have less of a problem tomorrow.)

At least 2 walks have no room near them to get a York in, so 2 of us have to wait until the others are out before we can get tying up

[Chelseablue]

Worst mess weve ever been in and still no support from the Union its crazy !!!!

[no1postie]

same at our do, been like it for years, but never this bad, i like to think one day someone will smell coffee in the morning, not napalm, i live in hope, hands are all tied from top to bottom, even investors, everyone trying to do their best and keep their jobs, but the sad truth is we are all on a ship of fools.

[Jpro747]

Our DOM literally told us no one cares about their mail anymore and it’s all about the parcels now so like it or lump it

[SpacePhoenix]

Most of the vans at our DO are in a disgusting state, inside and out. Some are simply not roadworthy, yet continue to be used. Recently, a customer pointed out to me that one of the rear sidelights on my van was not working. Upon returning to the DO, I wrote this in the log book and raised it as a new fault on my PDA, which required the name of a manager in order to correctly log it. I should add that this was on a Sunday and, by this time, the manager who was supposedly running the show had long since vanished, leaving one of their lackeys in charge. When I mentioned the fault to him he responded "F**k it, leave it, whoever's using that van tomorrow can deal with it".

Why aren't you getting the unroadworthy vans signed out of use?????

[Zicomurphy]

Our DOM literally told us no one cares about their mail anymore and it’s all about the parcels now so like it or lump it

When birthday cards being left undelivered was mentioned to our DOM his reply was they should have been sent earlier if people wanted them to get there in time. 85 pence for a first class stamp. The public are being taken for mugs.

[yellowbelly]

Most of the vans at our DO are in a disgusting state, inside and out. Some are simply not roadworthy, yet continue to be used. Recently, a customer pointed out to me that one of the rear sidelights on my van was not working. Upon returning to the DO, I wrote this in the log book and raised it as a new fault on my PDA, which required the name of a manager in order to correctly log it. I should add that this was on a Sunday and, by this time, the manager who was supposedly running the show had long since vanished, leaving one of their lackeys in charge. When I mentioned the fault to him he responded "F**k it, leave it, whoever's using that van tomorrow can deal with it".

Why aren't you getting the unroadworthy vans signed out of use?????

Easy to say that from a distance - probably a lot more difficult in practice. Because like you in the mail centre there is less
and less time to do things properly without getting stress from management.

Boss have you got a spare wagon, this one needs booking in, broken brake light.

Let me see what I can do

An hour later - Boss about that spare wagon?

Oh, yes go and speak to the garage, they'll fix it for you in 10 minutes.

Garage, No haven't got time mate.

Boss garage won't do it.

Ok I've found a spare wagon, here you go.

Van located 10 minutes later in yard blocked in by other wagons or private cars.
Get wagon out, it's a s**t storm, knackered seats, window stuck, one of rear doors won't open, only an eighth of a tank of fuel.

Boss I've got a wagon but it's taken me 30 minutes to sort, I'm going to have to leave a loop.

WTF have you been doing? Get a grip! You've got no chance, get it done or there'll be questions asked, FFS mutter mutter.

That's why people would rather use a wagon with a brake light out rather than do what you suggest - it's wrong but that's
the typical state we are at in delivery.