Research: media coverage of the strike

[Pat Ostman]

What does modernisation mean for posties?

Excellent question but I'll let someone else have a go

[ass asin]

modernisation for me means the erosion of my hard fought for working conditions and the gradual decline of a service and a job i love.

for royal mail (and all those directly involved,government,eu, etc ) modernisation means private and personal profiteering at the expense of a public service.

[DirtyHarry]

I loved my job once, I actually used to like going into work, but that was in the past, a past the British press never misses an opportunity to condemn. But, hey, I suppose it's all part and parcel of being modernised, as Royal Mail bosses, know-nothing politicians, and a British press seemingly in their pockets, like to call it.

What has changed about the job to mean that you don't love it anymore? What does modernisation mean for posties?

Workload has become almost impossible for individuals, even the managers at local level know this, so they bully and harass people into completing workloads that cannot possibly be completed in their working day. Weak spirited posties therefore lose quality time with their families because they finish at 4.00pm, or 5.00pm, having started their working day at 6.00am, or even 5.30am. That's why I now hate the job I do.
Modernisation for posties means, being treated less like a human being, and more like a pack mule.

[taxi4leighton]

i feel that opinion changed during our dispute. it started off as "turkeys voting for xmas" bias but soon changed especially in the broadsheets. it was noted that Crozier kept well away from the action, only emerging on the Andrew Marr show for an"easy ride", but he screwed it up, the way he kept wringing his hands, and his immature,childish, remark, telling people to "shut up". this was a massive own goal which was not missed by the media. we have a big advantage over the rest of the unions in the UK, in that we as individuals are in daily contact with our customers, and are able to put our point accross. also our customers can judge us a people,and they can see we are not "lemmings" or extremists

[underpaidoverwalked]

How does anyone think the Royal Mail management were treated in the press compared to the posties and the union?

In my opinion the press made out that this was about money and 'working conditions' (ie having to do more work). Of course this did not go down well with the public during a recession. It seemed like the poor management wanted to modernise (read save money at the expense of customer satisfaction) and we stood in their way. It was not true and a payrise was not the reason for any strikes and not part of the problem.

The truth is that the strike was about saving the service before Royal Mail Management destroy it. The higher echelons are using a slash and burn policy to get us ready for privatisation. If the public knew the truth they would have almost been unanimously behind us, sadly though the media got to them first and our union was not exactly helpful putting our point across.

In fact the best press we got was when postmen and women were interviewed on the tv and radio. Sadly in the media's quest to 'never let the truth get in the way of a good story' meant this rarely happened.

2nd that

[danf1]

Do you think that the use of terms like 'modernisation' and 'flixible working practices' confuses the debate and makesit appear like something it isn't?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Do you think that the use of terms like 'modernisation' and 'flixible working practices' confuses the debate and makesit appear like something it isn't?

Yes - Modernisation is used to promote the Seniors Managers version of "improving" the system, but it has nothing except a detrimental effect on the service we provide:

For instance:

Give the Public a service - Yep that's Royal Mails job and guess how they do that
1. Close 3,500 Post Offices.

2. Reduce the service at 1000s of others.

3. Allow the Government to withdraw some of the services you used to be able to get at POs.

4. Ceased Sunday Collections (now for anyone to get anything on Monday you need to send it before 1230 on Saturday.

5. Cancelled Bank Holiday Collections.

6. Cancelled 2nd Delivery

7. Made the 1st delivery later than the 2nd ever was.

8. Laid off 60,000 workers through various means.

9. Close delivery offices and amalgamate them into Super DOs on industrial estates miles from bus routes.

10. Bring in a complicated and expensive postage system. (Pricing in Proportion).

11. Increase handling fees for Import from £4 to £8.

12. Increase the surcharge of underpaid items to £1.

13. Increase stamp prices above inflation.

14. Agree a price with DSA competitors to use our network which means we subsidise them to the tune of 2p per item.

15. Take 5 years to spend half of the 1.2billion the government loaned them, but we are still yet to see the machines in use on a UK wide basis even though trials are going well according to Royal Mail.

16. Removing Mail Cycles and replacing them with cars and then claiming they are doing everything to reduce carbon emissions.

17. Half day closing for all Callers Offices and a delay of up to 72 hours before you can collect parcels/letters after getting a "Sorry you were out Card"

18. Modernisation would normally mean reducing the operational stages that something has to go through. In Royal Mail it means adding yet another stage (walk sequencing machines) and extending the pipeline meaning that deliveries will be further delayed. Sounds more like a reduction in service to me, rather than making it more modern.

As for flexibility - the word is meant to show that Royal Mail is a dynamic and responsive service to its customers and employees when the exact opposite is true.

It was meant to take into account personal circumstances but if that's true why are people being sent home without pay when the cannot work 30 minutes extra. Also there is no official way of recording when 30 minutes flexibility was enacted and no formal way of recording when the 30 minutes is given back to the employee, and no formal instructions on how it should be paid back. This has lead to some people being told that as they made time earlier in the week they have to flex that day, but they do not formally record the "time made" so how can if be fair. Some have also been paid back the 30 minutes flex in 10 minute chunks at the start of the working day, which is IMHO unfair against the spirit of the agreement which used the term "swings and roundabouts" to qualify it.

Absorption - which is meant to be done only when time permits within the duty is also a misnomer and comes under the umbrella of flexibility. The idea is that when posties are absent from the duty then RM spread out that duty over the office. However RM now use it all year so its hardly absorption any more its now an extra part of your duty.

In its implementation it is a farce. To ensure you have time to do it within your duty they send you out earlier, usually before all the mail has been sorted (missorts we call them) and you are then meant to take a break on return before you go out on your own duty, of course management realise that most posties will miss this break so that they can provide the service that they want to, to their usual customers.

It also has a comical element of a duty of 600 drops being covered by 1 man and in the Absorbed duty perhaps 15 - 20 covering 300 drops.

Also when they absorb a duty which has a worker dedicated to that delivery but there is no indoor work for them to do, they have to either do "make work" or cover the cut offs caused by other employees unable to finish their work in duty time, because they have had to absorb the duty the original person was actually on.

[danf1]

What do you think is the motivation behind modernisation?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

What do you think is the motivation behind modernisation?

Immediate: Cost Cutting Head Count reduction etc.

Medium Term: Dutch Model of delivery

Long Term: Setting the Company up for eventual sale/privatisation.

[danf1]

Could you please tell me a little bit about the Dutch model of delivery and how you feel this would effect you and what you do?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Could you please tell me a little bit about the Dutch model of delivery and how you feel this would effect you and what you do?

Highly casualised and part time work force that deliver only standardized letters and D2Ds.

They have no place of work beyond a garage or shed to which their prepared rounds are sent and then they deliver.

Usually they are Students, women earning a wage whilst children at school/nursery etc.

Contracts are very limited usually less than 15 hours a week.

The bit RM like is that Union representation or involvement is very limited because of the style and nature of the work.

Low wages - near or at Minimum wage levels.

There are some pictures and details of the TPG (now called TNT) way of delivery in this document:

delivery_the_tpg_way_1.ppt

[mailsort6]

This information is taken from the Hooper Report: Modernise or Decline. This is what has happen across Europe with mail centres and delivery offices.

Germany - Deutsche Post had 328 mail centres they only have 83 now, they had 11,000 delivery offices they only have 3,700 now. TNT had 12 mail centres they only have 6 now.

Royal Mail have about 69 mail centres, how many do they want to get rid of? It took Deutsche Post 10 years to modernise their postal system. Deutsche Post have got rid of 245 mail centres within 10 years and RM are trying to do the same.

RM are not letting us know what their plans are, we want to know the total of the amount of mail centres and delivery offices they expect to close or merge. We do not know whether our jobs are going to be safe within the next 5 years or not.

[norbert]

This information is taken from the Hooper Report: Modernise or Decline. This is what has happen across Europe with mail centres and delivery offices.

Germany - Deutsche Post had 328 mail centres they only have 83 now, they had 11,000 delivery offices they only have 3,700 now. TNT had 12 mail centres they only have 6 now.

Royal Mail have about 69 mail centres, how many do they want to get rid of? It took Deutsche Post 10 years to modernise their postal system. Deutsche Post have got rid of 245 mail centres within 10 years and RM are trying to do the same.

The ten years bit for Germany is very , very apt .

The other interesting bit about the on - line versions of the Papers is the Guardian is plagued by Tory Trolls . The IP address for many of them has been traced to Conservative Central Office , Smith Square .

There's been a few on here , some of them sounded like caricatures of caricatures as they were laying it on that thick i.e. " Bring Back Maggie " - A great idea , an old woman of 84 who has had dementia for quite some time and had a alcohol problem before that - any more bright ideas ?

There has been a strategy to target the internet with Lord Snooty and his old Etonian pals - they've gone for poor management of state industries and poor IR to play the " winter of discontent " card and suggest a " alternative " .

[danf1]

The other interesting bit about the on - line versions of the Papers is the Guardian is plagued by Tory Trolls . The IP address for many of them has been traced to Conservative Central Office , Smith Square .

There's been a few on here , some of them sounded like caricatures of caricatures as they were laying it on that thick i.e. " Bring Back Maggie " - A great idea , an old woman of 84 who has had dementia for quite some time and had a alcohol problem before that - any more bright ideas ?

Do you think they try to charicature the workers and the Union too?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

The other interesting bit about the on - line versions of the Papers is the Guardian is plagued by Tory Trolls . The IP address for many of them has been traced to Conservative Central Office , Smith Square .

There's been a few on here , some of them sounded like caricatures of caricatures as they were laying it on that thick i.e. " Bring Back Maggie " - A great idea , an old woman of 84 who has had dementia for quite some time and had a alcohol problem before that - any more bright ideas ?

Do you think they try to charicature the workers and the Union too?

I do and they are very blatant about it.

Just look at the last 2 periods of IA.

2009 - They attempted to say that is was a London problem and that the Union was trying to make it National so they had a stronger position.

2007 - We were called Overpaid and Underworked by Leighton and Crozier - not a direct quote but a refrain they trotted out every time they were quoted in the press or interviewed on TV.

Of course during both strikes the Murdoch press called us 70s Dinosaurs impeding necessary Modernisation of the service. Now who used to work for Royal Mail and was on the BSkyB (Sky News) Board :lfo source http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Busine ... rchresults" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Not much of a clash of interests was there