SWW- new efficient plans

[postmanzach]

They have ideas and trials but they don’t actually have anything do they?
I really can’t see how they can afford to pay us the same wage for 35 hours, nearly everybody except the few runners in my office is going over on heavy days already and booking it, with an hour reduction that’s more OT, another 3 off, that’s more OT. And more and more parcels. Reduction in letters really isn’t going to save 3-4 hours a week.

What’s royal mail’s secret plan?

[Yamr1]

Runners to go the extra mile and PT staff wanting a ft contract that there never going to get to run even more lol
There's your plan in a nut shell

[NewPostieUK]

They have ideas and trials but they don’t actually have anything do they?
I really can’t see how they can afford to pay us the same wage for 35 hours,

Don't worry about it, it'll never happen. There isn't the efficiency or savings to get us down to 38 hrs, so 35 will never happen.

[Tomolo208]

Savings will be made by not increasing people's duties, which would then have lead to higher sickness and increased ihr payouts.

Plus I think the SWW will just be used as a reason not to give a payrise along side it. Unless the efficiency targets are met that is.

[Sugar]

Reduction in indoor workload so more outdoor work that leads to less of a need for collection staff because OPG's will do more and more of that along with picking items up from customers homes so less post offices. Reduction in indoor workload with the new methods means less floor space required so more DO merges and then they flog of the real estate. There's a heap of short term monetary gains for them to make. Oh and very few P/T's will get an increase in hours due to runners, early starters, corner cutters and the above mentioned reduction in indoor work. basically they're still chasing the Dutch model they were a decade ago.

[glenfiddich]

Reduction in indoor workload so more outdoor work that leads to less of a need for collection staff because OPG's will do more and more of that along with picking items up from customers homes so less post offices. Reduction in indoor workload with the new methods means less floor space required so more DO merges and then they flog of the real estate. There's a heap of short term monetary gains for them to make. Oh and very few P/T's will get an increase in hours due to runners, early starters, corner cutters and the above mentioned reduction in indoor work. basically they're still chasing the Dutch model they were a decade ago.

Yes but aren't the dutch posties getting bikes now https://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communi ... 3&p=823356

[SpacePhoenix]

How can they really reduce the indoor workload in DOs? To have flats and letters sorted together RM would have to replace all existing machines in MCs. d2d are unlikely to ever be collated by machine if it just nests them. Not every MC will have the room for a packet sorting machine and it wouldn't be practical to have any packet sorting machine sorting to walk level. If anything indoor workload for DOs must be going up slightly with the increased amount of mech mail that we're sending manual instead of it being sequenced

[Celgar]

Reduction in indoor workload so more outdoor work that leads to less of a need for collection staff because OPG's will do more and more of that along with picking items up from customers homes so less post offices. Reduction in indoor workload with the new methods means less floor space required so more DO merges and then they flog of the real estate. There's a heap of short term monetary gains for them to make. Oh and very few P/T's will get an increase in hours due to runners, early starters, corner cutters and the above mentioned reduction in indoor work. basically they're still chasing the Dutch model they were a decade ago.

The question is how much more cost cutting can be made now when we actually need to increase our capacity across the board if we want a share of the extra business that will come. I can see the possibility of introducing more machinery in MCs except that the union is currently trying to stop that happening. The trials on new prep methods and merging are not going to work as merging takes longer than current methods. Most of the real estate was sold off years ago, the Vans are not ours now, and both are leased back. Other changes such as switching to a five day operation and losing the cover staff or pulling out of the USO are unlikely to happen.

[NewPostieUK]

How can they really reduce the indoor workload in DOs?

That's what I'd like to know. None of the idea's bandied about so far sound feasible. Actually, they sound ridiculous.

Also, our part timers do the minimum indoor work anyway. Personally, I go in, bundle up and set of on my 5.5 - 6 hr duty. (30 hr contract).

With less time, the full timers are going to be doing less of our prep, so there will be an increase in indoor work for part timers.

I'm all for good change, being more efficient, making genuine savings, but all I can see at the moment is chaos.

Scary times ahead, and that's just with the ONE hour reduction, to 38 hrs. We won't get a shorter working week than that in my lifetime ( next 10 years).

[SpacePhoenix]

Scary times ahead, and that's just with the ONE hour reduction, to 38 hrs. We won't get a shorter working week than that in my lifetime ( next 10 years).

I can't see how the 1hr reduction down to 38hrs + any start times being pushed back further due to Network 18 (mail coming in later with less time to process it) and/or LAT processing (some MCs might literally not have the room to process the LAT and their 2C (and maybe DSA and Mailsort as well) as it's going to have a major impact on sequencing. Realistically CSS staff might soon have to cut the amount of boxes down to 20 maybe 22 per batch, which could result in any excess going to manual, depending on what their wave 2 batches are typically like (only enough time for about a max of 8 boxes per batch)

[Sugar]

Reduction in indoor workload so more outdoor work that leads to less of a need for collection staff because OPG's will do more and more of that along with picking items up from customers homes so less post offices. Reduction in indoor workload with the new methods means less floor space required so more DO merges and then they flog of the real estate. There's a heap of short term monetary gains for them to make. Oh and very few P/T's will get an increase in hours due to runners, early starters, corner cutters and the above mentioned reduction in indoor work. basically they're still chasing the Dutch model they were a decade ago.

Yes but aren't the dutch posties getting bikes now https://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communi ... 3&p=823356

Give it another 10 years and we'll be doing the same. All this company can do is imitate it's not got the potential behind the scenes to innovate.

How can they really reduce the indoor workload in DOs? To have flats and letters sorted together RM would have to replace all existing machines in MCs. d2d are unlikely to ever be collated by machine if it just nests them. Not every MC will have the room for a packet sorting machine and it wouldn't be practical to have any packet sorting machine sorting to walk level. If anything indoor workload for DOs must be going up slightly with the increased amount of mech mail that we're sending manual instead of it being sequenced

Rumour has it we'll be prepping 4+ duties per day and P/T's ever starting early will disappear for good. The Dutch model was based pure around F/T's prepping indoors and P/T's picking it up from the office or it was dropped off at a garage/drop point near their starting point. And IIRC the number of deliver days dropped to less than 5 per week. Can't comment on MC's I've never been in one.

The question is how much more cost cutting can be made now when we actually need to increase our capacity across the board if we want a share of the extra business that will come. I can see the possibility of introducing more machinery in MCs except that the union is currently trying to stop that happening. The trials on new prep methods and merging are not going to work as merging takes longer than current methods. Most of the real estate was sold off years ago, the Vans are not ours now, and both are leased back. Other changes such as switching to a five day operation and losing the cover staff or pulling out of the USO are unlikely to happen.

Playing devil's advocate now....

Ever get the feeling we're being set up for stage 2 of privatisation and the whole business will get carved up and franchised to high heaven?

I can see letters being seperated from parcels again and we'll deliver letters 3-4 days per week as volumes continue to drop and parcels and collections daily like we do now.

The days of the USO are numbered.

Remember for a number of years we've had an upper manager mentality that all OPG's are lazy and overpaid and full of Spanish practises. Leighton and Crossier. Shame they never twigged it's actually poor management at mid and lower level that are the weakest links.

[Celgar]

As far as I know RM like the letters being delivered together/combined with the packets and parcels. So I don't foresee it changing to be honest.

[citypostie]

A manager told me he thinks full timers will be doing all the indoor sort/prep work with smaller outdoor deliveries(firms mainly)/parcel runs and collections in singleton vans and part timers doing the majority of letter delivery still in pairs. Would probably make the 35 hour week the union wants achievable but I'm guessing it would only really work and make sense money wise if the number of full timers in an office was quite small

[rambo1]

How can they really reduce the indoor workload in DOs? To have flats and letters sorted together RM would have to replace all existing machines in MCs. d2d are unlikely to ever be collated by machine if it just nests them. Not every MC will have the room for a packet sorting machine and it wouldn't be practical to have any packet sorting machine sorting to walk level. If anything indoor workload for DOs must be going up slightly with the increased amount of mech mail that we're sending manual instead of it being sequenced

Our ips seems to be taking longer and longer to do with the escalation in packets. Unless it's because there's less and less sorters because of one plan making those who should be on ips, throwing sequenced mail into walks which will then finish early. Couldn't write it really, but can't say anything coz the plan is the plan is the plan. Don't argue with the clipboard!!!

[zz666]

Hopefully there will be vr's.