Sunday delivery

[postiewhite]

I was wondering what people's thoughts are, the timescale of when this would become compulsory for workers and would it be put on a fair rota.
Its plain to see a 7 day service is the way forward and I know lots of posties wouldn't mind a sunday shift because it may fit into their schedule etc. On the other hand it may not suit others especially if weekends is the only time they get to see their love ones or children etc so are we talking months before this becomes compulsory or maybe 2-3yrs? We are due a revision in october and this would trigger another revision to change everyone's rota etc.
Also would you imagine it would be sorted out fair so that you wouldnt be working (for example) 5 saturday/sundays in a rota of 7 for everyone or would this be the type of rota they would be looking at? They are trying to get rid of the 1in4 rotas in our office so imagining we could all be working most Saturdays and sundays when its part of our rota.

[Dorset Plodder]

I was wondering what people's thoughts are, the timescale of when this would become compulsory for workers and would it be put on a fair rota.

I'd be surprised if we all had to take turns working Sundays PW. Judging by some other posts RM is already stipulating that Sunday working will be required for New Starters. Makes much more sense to feed these New Contracts into the system instead of trying to Bully your existing staff into doing it.

But this is Royal Mail so you never know.

[POSTMAN]

This thread has a long discussion on it, as does the new forum it's in, "THE DISPUTE : THE PATHWAY TO CHANGE"...
Sunday Deliveries to commence

[2yearpostie]

All new staff are required to be available for Sunday delivery, its going to be a case of see how many customers use the service, if its like LATS then not much will change as its been a bit of a flop, if it takes off then i can see the rota changing to a 1 in 7 with 2 days a week given to you together, ie off mon/tues, then weds/thurs,then fri/sat, then sun/mon etc.

Dont worry though Sundays are parcels only so it will be a bit easier on your body though you would probably be taking out 2 walks worth of tracked/oversized/specials. Expected hours are 10am-3pm.

[Phantom]

It's voluntary and this is how the agreement was sold to everyone. If this changed to compulsory then industrial action should be triggered.
Note the word "should".

[Woody Guthrie]

It's voluntary and this is how the agreement was sold to everyone. If this changed to compulsory then industrial action should be triggered.
Note the word "should".

It was only initially voluntary, that was the actual words of the agreement and if people were stupid enough to listen to a sell that's their problem.

However what will be key to how voluntary this remains is how much is on offer, at the moment building duties into Sundays will cost Royal Mail upwards of £17 p/h outside London, more obviously in the capital, at that rate there will be plenty of volunteers but is it sustainable given the number of potential Sunday duties across the delivery function not to mention the extra processing and distribution duties involved.

Martin doesn't seem keen to tell us whether the discussions on Sunday pay rates are ongoing and whether Royal Mail will commit to the Sunday conditioned allowance long term. I doubt they can justify it myself.

[Woody Guthrie]

One of the things that might keep Sundays on a voluntary basis for the near future will be the difficulty in forecasting traffic and matching resource.

It's going to be hit or miss to start with so you really don't want people standing about doing nothing on £17 p/h because nobody got drunk on Saturday night and ordered a shitload of clothes from Boohoo.

You could find yourself prepping a lot of D2D.

[Ozzvaldo]

Dont worry though Sundays are parcels only so it will be a bit easier on your body though you would probably be taking out 2 walks worth of tracked/oversized/specials. Expected hours are 10am-3pm.

The managers in my office gathered us all round yesterday and announced that RM are wanting to start this up in April, initially with voluntary overtime and then staffed with agency workers if nobody wants to do it. When they announced that the expected starting time for us was expected to be midday, even the usual overtime kings weren't exactly foaming at the gills.

They then explained the expectation that this work will be incorporated into our revision to ensure that it's carried out every week without fail. I was amazed to see how many people were shocked by the prospect of Sunday working being introduced, and obviously had no idea of the recently settled dispute and RM's plans.

[Peejay8T8]

I'm absolutely gutted about it. The appeal of this job to me is that it pays well as a part time job so gives me more time to work around my families schedules and spend time with them too. That's being eroded with later finish times and Sunday hours taken up now too. It was obvious to me that it would only be voluntary until the next revision. I guess it's the way of the world but it stings

[eastie]

Is this to do saturdays cut offs?

[Grumpyoldmailman]

Is this to do saturdays cut offs?

And jobs that didn’t go out as people refused to work their Saturday off.

[number one]

Theres so much miss information here and utter nonsense. LATS are not a flop. Sunday delivery is voluntary!!! What the hell is so hard to understand? Nobody will be forced to worked a Sunday. Duties may be made in the future that includes working a Sunday but nobody will be forced to sign for them.

[Acca Dacca]

Driving is still voluntary for employees who started before RM made it mandatory requirement in their contracts when hiring - about 10 years ago

Sundays could be the same

[Alexei]

It's funny, our office OT crew often moaned and flat out rejected any Sunday overtime delivering packets when it was brought up at meetings. You know what happened? They done it anyway

I imagine initially it will be voluntary while the teething issues are resolved, then it will be mandatory.

[Woody Guthrie]

Duties may be made in the future that includes working a Sunday but nobody will be forced to sign for them.

What if an office decides to rotate Sunday working through the majority of its duties?

You only have the choice up until there's no choice left.
Reserves don't get to pick what duty they are covering.
The senior guys won't be forced to sign for a Sunday duty, after that it's a crap shoot.