National Update

[k979aaa]

Can we have a 4 day working week, please.

For letters and flats that'll probably happen at some point.Don't know if we could see Sunday deliveries of SDs and Tracked (for a premium) eventually

Not sure I could handle this job for 20+ years on a 5 day working week. Need more rest than 1 odd day at a time. Muscles constantly aching. Maybe it's just me.

I think in general the 4 day working week has been mentioned in the media over recent months, so maybe in time it might be something that happens nationwide.

You could do six days a week like I did in this job!

[itinerant]

Can we have a 4 day working week, please.

For letters and flats that'll probably happen at some point.Don't know if we could see Sunday deliveries of SDs and Tracked (for a premium) eventually

Not sure I could handle this job for 20+ years on a 5 day working week. Need more rest than 1 odd day at a time. Muscles constantly aching. Maybe it's just me.

I think in general the 4 day working week has been mentioned in the media over recent months, so maybe in time it might be something that happens nationwide.

Our DO operate on a 4 day week and have done in the 2 years I have been there. Do different offices operate under their own local agreements then?

[k979aaa]

Can we have a 4 day working week, please.

For letters and flats that'll probably happen at some point.Don't know if we could see Sunday deliveries of SDs and Tracked (for a premium) eventually

Not sure I could handle this job for 20+ years on a 5 day working week. Need more rest than 1 odd day at a time. Muscles constantly aching. Maybe it's just me.

I think in general the 4 day working week has been mentioned in the media over recent months, so maybe in time it might be something that happens nationwide.

Our DO operate on a 4 day week and have done in the 2 years I have been there. Do different offices operate under their own local agreements then?

Yes most are a 1 in 6 rota day off some work the six days and get a week off others like your office do a long day short week 9 and a half hour day the part time will be less hours in all instances.

[hero22]

Can we have a 4 day working week, please.

Im sure the thousands of staff made redundant if this were implemented would be very happy.

[k979aaa]

Can we have a 4 day working week, please.

Im sure the thousands of staff made redundant if this were implemented would be very happy.

The hour-age would be the same would that fit the staff in them offices when we had a vote on duty spans some years ago most wanted 1 in 6 rota in our place I wanted a 3 day off 4 in like this fellow said it is a redistribution of hours. People leave all the time in RM so the job's thing is a red herring but if the 6 day service was cut ie Saturdays that would cut the jobs because less hours in the week!

[k979aaa]

Here is my 4 day week idea
Monday 06:00 to 15:30
Tuesday 06:00 to 15:30
Wednesday 06:00 to 15:30
Thursday 06:00 to 15:30
which works out at 38 hours
the following shift would work Friday Saturday Monday Tuesday same hours and rotate it would give more time off and more Saturdays and even the workload across the week, Don't forget anyone who works over 9 hours gets a 50 meal relief as well.

[k979aaa]

Here is my 4 day week idea
Monday 06:00 to 15:30
Tuesday 06:00 to 15:30
Wednesday 06:00 to 15:30
Thursday 06:00 to 15:30
which works out at 38 hours
the following shift would work Friday Saturday Monday Tuesday same hours and rotate it would give more time off and more Saturdays and even the workload across the week, Don't forget anyone who works over 9 hours gets a 50 minute meal relief as well.

[SpacePhoenix]

Here is my 4 day week idea
Monday 06:00 to 15:30
Tuesday 06:00 to 15:30
Wednesday 06:00 to 15:30
Thursday 06:00 to 15:30
which works out at 38 hours
the following shift would work Friday Saturday Monday Tuesday same hours and rotate it would give more time off and more Saturdays and even the workload across the week, Don't forget anyone who works over 9 hours gets a 50 meal relief as well.

I think that 07:00-15:30 would be more likely. With all the seemly focus on saving money I can see RM sooner rather than later having ALL dispatches to DOs at least an hour later (and possibly having night shifts start and finish later by the same amount)

[k979aaa]

16:30 finish then but it is not just about the dispatch time D2D need prepping and it will be more than two frames you would be working on. Why do the union want a 35 hour week because the indoor will be less but bodies need more than 1 day to recover we need to think of new ways of working and not be hoodwinked by managers who cannot plan!

[Woody Guthrie]

The problem with a 4 day week is that we don't have enough indoor work anymore to justify it and at the same time maintain anywhere near the amount of full-time staff we currently have.

The post above suggests a 9hr 30 minute day, to implement that across the business would mean increasing delivery spans to well above 6hrs and cutting the full-time ratio down to less than 50%.

Should that be the aim of a union?

[SpacePhoenix]

The problem with a 4 day week is that we don't have enough indoor work anymore to justify it and at the same time maintain anywhere near the amount of full-time staff we currently have.

The post above suggests a 9hr 30 minute day, to implement that across the business would mean increasing delivery spans to well above 6hrs and cutting the full-time ratio down to less than 50%.

Should that be the aim of a union?

Would it be viable to bolt a collection onto every walk so that all collections apart from bulk ones (where a single customer posts at least 1/2 a yorks worth) get done by delivery staff

[DGH]

Would it be viable to bolt a collection onto every walk so that all collections apart from bulk ones (where a single customer posts at least 1/2 a yorks worth) get done by delivery staff

Not really because a huge number of deliveries are two in a van, which means one person would basically be idle during the collection.

In my view we need to understand that, whatever we might like to believe, mail is dying off. D2Ds will not save us - look how few we get now relative to six years ago. 90%+ of letters and flats are things that would probably now be better done online (yes I know the 'old people don't understand online' argument, but that's not something that's going to last).

Management and union should be thinking about how to manage the inevitable decline. In fact management are doing exactly that at a senior level. But the union's notion of full time contracts for all and no job losses is fantastical, and doesn't help them work with management to mitigate the ill effects. A general reduction of hours without a cut in pay (increased efficiency being impossible due to falling mail volumes) isn't practical. So we, and the union, do need to face hard facts rather than hoping for some kind of miracle cure.

Back's neo-liberal corporate approach to management should be resisted. But we've got to be realistic.

[Woody Guthrie]

The problem with a 4 day week is that we don't have enough indoor work anymore to justify it and at the same time maintain anywhere near the amount of full-time staff we currently have.

The post above suggests a 9hr 30 minute day, to implement that across the business would mean increasing delivery spans to well above 6hrs and cutting the full-time ratio down to less than 50%.

Should that be the aim of a union?

Would it be viable to bolt a collection onto every walk so that all collections apart from bulk ones (where a single customer posts at least 1/2 a yorks worth) get done by delivery staff

The bulk of collections are already done by delivery staff, it's called collection on delivery.
It's only really the bulks and the Post Office collections left.

There are around 80 deliveries in my DO and I think 6 collections left.

[Alexei]

The bulk of collections are already done by delivery staff, it's called collection on delivery.
It's only really the bulks and the Post Office collections left.

There's only a handful left in ours, but I predict in our next revision that more collections on delivery will be implemented, with the loss of another collection. We have walks at the minute which pass by smaller & quieter postboxes but don't collect from them, we also have rurals which don't collect boxes which get less than ten items a week, instead they are on a dedicated collection duty.

I would gladly accept a four day week, if it meant longer working days. Not something I've thought of in great detail regarding how the logistics would work, but the idea is definitely appealing. Not sure how many would sign up to it right enough, many of the posties in RM don't like change and would rather start earlier in the morning to get the earlier finish, despite it being unfeasible.

[rambo1]

Can we have a 4 day working week, please.

For letters and flats that'll probably happen at some point.Don't know if we could see Sunday deliveries of SDs and Tracked (for a premium) eventually

Not sure I could handle this job for 20+ years on a 5 day working week. Need more rest than 1 odd day at a time. Muscles constantly aching. Maybe it's just me.

I think in general the 4 day working week has been mentioned in the media over recent months, so maybe in time it might be something that happens nationwide.

You could do six days a week like I did in this job!

Yeah but we weren't out till 4pm back then, yes, six days a week but Saturday was done by 11 not 3 or later as it is now. Yes we were in earlier but didn't do 9 hr days.