Rebuilding Royal Mail Part 2

[postslippete]

Where are the signs it wants, or is going for a more flexible workforce in relation to new starters contracts?

As far as I am aware people have set hours, strict start and finish times, which is actually ridiculous when the job does need flexibility as workload varies from day to day + we have the USO to adhere to. Why is the company so rigid with the contracts they offer.

Some of the newer contracts have working hours anywhere between 7am and 7pm which means that they can be moved between morning deliveries or afternoon LAT duties, plus compulsory Sunday working. That's a level of flexibility the company simply can't impose on those of us on legacy contracts and it is clearly designed to give RM more room to move staff around as they please.

[BELIAL]

For me last straw time. Heard all the same bull from the CWU many times over, enough is enough. I’m out.
Like wise RM ,the reward is just not worth the hassle. Feel sad for those that get stuck there. I’m off.

[norris9]

Where are the signs it wants, or is going for a more flexible workforce in relation to new starters contracts?

As far as I am aware people have set hours, strict start and finish times, which is actually ridiculous when the job does need flexibility as workload varies from day to day + we have the USO to adhere to. Why is the company so rigid with the contracts they offer.

Some of the newer contracts have working hours anywhere between 7am and 7pm which means that they can be moved between morning deliveries or afternoon LAT duties, plus compulsory Sunday working. That's a level of flexibility the company simply can't impose on those of us on legacy contracts and it is clearly designed to give RM more room to move staff around as they please.

Fair enough. I wonder how many people are moved from early to lates against their will. I'd assume not many. Have not heard of that happening in our office.

[norris9]

For me last straw time. Heard all the same bull from the CWU many times over, enough is enough. I’m out.
Like wise RM ,the reward is just not worth the hassle. Feel sad for those that get stuck there. I’m off.

I don't blame you. I am actively going to look into other jobs away from Royal Mail, as well as into self employment to bring in a second income which will hopefully end up being enough to not need my postie job any longer.

The way the company is run, the politics, the agro, all for minimum wage, is not worth the stress.

[kazardaimenu]

The job could be a doddle but the management structure stifles it and creates a bad atmosphere.

[postslippete]

Fair enough. I wonder how many people are moved from early to lates against their will. I'd assume not many. Have not heard of that happening in our office.

It's a regular occurrence in ours so maybe a new topic should be created - Have you been moved onto LATs or to another office against your will? All offices are different but I have heard of many staff being moved to the trial offices to ensure that they work.

[Jonathan Alsatian]

I second this, why are new entrants waiting till September and very little information about it? Will we be getting the delivery supplement as well and another pay rise up to the same as the legacy contract in September? If so, will it and the delivery supplement be backdated to April?

Hope I'm wrong but I can't see us getting the delivery supplement, not even paid breaks, they will just put us on the same hourly rate., the two tier workforce will still be in place

Make sure you read all the detail regarding what is being discussed for new entrants….
There will be a pathway to equalisation and time served on the new contracts will be used. This means they will be saying the first increment will be after you have been on a new contract for at least three years before you get the first step (paid breaks and a small hourly increase). Then another step after four/five years on the new contract to get to pay parity with the old contracts (there is no way they will backdate anything for two and a half years that some new entrants have already been on the new contracts hence my guess that three years will be for the first step and December 2025 date).

By this time the delivery supplement will have gone in exchange for 1.25 OT rate for old contracts.
[/quote]


Where did you get this information about how long people need to be on the new contract before the incremental steps take effect (3 years followed by 4 or 5 years etc)? Is this fact or just what you guess might happen? I'm just asking because on one hand you say "make sure you read all the detail" but as far as I know the details haven't been released yet. My assumption would be 12 months on that contract before being eligible for equalisation to reflect legacy contracts doing 12 months on a lower wage when they first joined the company.

[Martin Walsh]

Jonathan Alsatia , this is simply not at all.

There are circa 20 thousand new entrants in Royal Mail and the overwhelming majority are working less than full time ie less that 40 hours. Of which only 146 have currently done more than 2 years service.

The cost to equalise new entrants in one go is 183 million pounds.

The reason being

You need to reduce the hours from 40 to 37 hours which increases the hourly rate for all new entrants is £27 million pounds.

Paid meal reliefs as Royal Mail have to reduce working hours for all new entrants is £28 million.

The supplements is £42 million.

Inner and outer London Weighting is worth 40 million.

Recruitment and retention payments cost 30 million.

When you negotiate a pay rise the more which is done in year 1 has compounded effect in years 2 and 3.

So the first step will apply to all new entrants in September and from a union position we are saying that no one should have to do more than 3 years to when they get equalisation. Importantly we want those 146 who have done two years to start having full equalisation from three years.

However whether you like it or not this company is making a double digit profit and they are not going to just chuck 183 million on the table and say everyone has full equalisation from now.

There will be incremental steps , with the first in September.

Remember this company imposed the new entrants contracts and it is the CWU who are now changing them for the better !

[Neverwasadoor]

Martin,
How will that work when we are trying to pilot a new way of working, and new starts are going from 40hrs to actually working roughly 33.20hrs with their meal reliefs taken off?
Don't get me wrong its a great thing, but they are going to need to put more duties or get more people as they won't be able do do as much as they are now.

[Neverwasadoor]

To add I know its phased in, but there's bound to be a point where it will be a lot of staff all at once not just the 146 you mention.

[Navalron]

Fair played to him of course you can't take that away from him..but lissen to the staff who are on the ground..the ones who take the slack if a parcel goes missing or if a special doesn't get delivered on time.. this is a responsible job so we should be recognized for that.. managers on a laptop firing out phrases like "dont forget to go onto my doorstep".. why what difference will that make.. Will it upset your bonus.... im more into real hardline stuff,where royal mail can invite new people in and offer attractive pay which inturn rallys the postperson and drives them to do there best when out on the roads..

WHY. He is blaming yous for going on strike. In his own words he said that's why they new starts are on inferior terms. Read his statement.

[Jb1969]

20k new entrants & only 148 have done more than 2 years.
That is one hell of a turnover of staff.
Simply, if RM do not drastically improve retention of said staff they are screwed!

[Ren Hoëk]

Jonathan Alsatia , this is simply not at all.

There are circa 20 thousand new entrants in Royal Mail and the overwhelming majority are working less than full time ie less that 40 hours. Of which only 146 have currently done more than 2 years service.

The cost to equalise new entrants in one go is 183 million pounds.

The reason being

You need to reduce the hours from 40 to 37 hours which increases the hourly rate for all new entrants is £27 million pounds.

Paid meal reliefs as Royal Mail have to reduce working hours for all new entrants is £28 million.

The supplements is £42 million.

Inner and outer London Weighting is worth 40 million.

Recruitment and retention payments cost 30 million.

When you negotiate a pay rise the more which is done in year 1 has compounded effect in years 2 and 3.

So the first step will apply to all new entrants in September and from a union position we are saying that no one should have to do more than 3 years to when they get equalisation. Importantly we want those 146 who have done two years to start having full equalisation from three years.

However whether you like it or not this company is making a double digit profit and they are not going to just chuck 183 million on the table and say everyone has full equalisation from now.

There will be incremental steps , with the first in September.

Remember this company imposed the new entrants contracts and it is the CWU who are now changing them for the better !

Id love to see a breakdown of your figures. Im obvs not privy to the true numbers but that £183m figure seems way too much as the cost.

A fair like for like comparison of costs to the employer for new contract and legacy would look like below. That would be moving a new contract on a 37 hour contract overnight. You mentioned that most new employees are part time so I worked it out on a 25 hour per week average. Which again, I think is fair. You also state £30m cost of recruitment and retention. I would say that expense would be substantially reduced if contracts were neutralised as retention would be far better. Thus, shouldn't really be included in costs.

No delivery supplement.
Average of 25 hours a week £12.54ph = 313.50
Employer National insurance contribution 15% = £32.60
Employer Pension contribution 13.9% - £26.83
Total = £372.93

Including delivery supplement.
Legacy contract 25 hours a week £15.05ph = £376.24
Employer National insurance contribution 15% = £42.01
Employer Pension contribution 13.9% - £35.58
Total = 453.83

The difference being

£453.83 - £372.93 = £80.90 per week
£4206.80 per year.
£4206.80 x 20,000 employees = £84,136,000

Cost to neutralise contracts - £84,136,000


Things to note. I have not included London weighting as I have no real way to know those figures. There would also be an overtime saving as the new contract OT rate would be reduced. So that figure would be give or take. I still think its probably a good estimate.

[TopperGas]

20k new entrants & only 148 have done more than 2 years.
That is one hell of a turnover of staff.
Simply, if RM do not drastically improve retention of said staff they are screwed!

How many of the 20K are CWU members?

Also why are RM still losing so much money when we seem to be increasing Tracked deliveries by 10% each year and not replacing reserve cover when they leave, where are we losing money? How much do managers bonuses cost the company on top of their £50K+ annual salaries? G

[GRS]

20k new entrants & only 148 have done more than 2 years.
That is one hell of a turnover of staff.
Simply, if RM do not drastically improve retention of said staff they are screwed!

But surely that is what the business wants. A transient workforce where people come and go rapidly, they want people to rock up and stay for 6 weeks, 4 months or a year then move on and so on. Much cheaper for RM, no real employment rights gained if you only stay somewhere for such a short time either. That’s why they’re so desperate to push older long serving staff out the door, they simply don’t want that sort of workforce any more.

Evri are the same, people turn up at the depot in their motor and fill the car up with parcels but once they’ve done it for a few days they jack it in and go and do something else. Doesn’t seem to do Evri any harm as they still have plenty of work.