Postmen threaten to ditch half of their deliveries

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Postmen threaten to ditch half of their deliveries in bid to protect Royal Mail from 'unfair' competition

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ition.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

►Strike could happen in New Year and all non-Royal Mail post would just be ignored
►Unions say commercial competitors are costing jobs and don't have to meet same standards of service or pay
►Royal Mail has been criticised for putting up price of stamps
►Its delivery arm made a profit for the first time in four years this year

Postmen are threatening to deliver only half the mail, a militant union warned last night.

Thousands of vital letters such as energy bills and bank statements would fail to reach customers if the boycott went ahead – causing chaos for households and businesses.

Royal Mail has lost business to the likes of TNT Post and UK Mail over the past seven years. Currently, half of all letters are handled by a rival company, with Royal Mail responsible for only the final mile of the delivery.

Strike: Royal Mail workers may ignore post sent via their 'unfair' competitors who have caused job losses, price rises and fewer services

The Communication Workers’ Union said yesterday it will ballot its 200,000 members in the New Year about whether to boycott letters which have been handled by a rival firm.

The ban would affect post from some of the country’s biggest businesses. Thames Water, BT, E.On, Sky, Barclays, Npower, O2 and Talk Talk are among those who use Royal Mail’s rivals to handle all or some of their letters.

Government departments such as HM Revenue and Customs use TNT.

CWU members – the majority of whom work for Royal Mail – will be asked a single question about whether they are prepared to boycott the delivery of mail handled by a rival.

Since 2005, Royal Mail has rapidly lost its key business customers, according to data published last month by postal regulator Ofcom. Just 5.2 per cent of all letters were handled by a rival in 2005. Last year, the figure hit 44 per cent and Royal Mail says it is now dangerously close to 50 per cent.

This year, TNT Post expects to handle 3.8billion letters and UK Mail expects to handle 3billion. They pick up letters from their business customers, sort them, distribute them around the
UK and then pay Royal Mail to put them through the letterbox, known as the ‘final mile’.

Boycott: Post sent via competitors is still taken the 'final mile' by postmen but this responsibility will be ignored if the strike goes ahead

Dave Ward, CWU deputy general secretary, said: ‘What we are seeing is private companies being able to do what they want, with little concern for how it affects postal services in the round.’

Concerns: Royal Mail says all post must be delivered but admitted they are also worried by the rise cherry-picking competitors

The union fears the impact on postal services could be ‘catastrophic’ if the problem is not dealt with, and leaves the crucial ‘universal service obligation (USO)’ under threat. The USO is the promise that Royal Mail will pick up and deliver letters six days a week for a uniform price anywhere in Britain.

TNT Post poses an even bigger threat to Royal Mail because it began a trial of its own postal service in West London in April, in which it no longer uses Royal Mail postmen.

About 300,000 families and businesses in areas such as Ealing, Hammersmith and Victoria get some of their mail delivered by TNT’s 600 postmen dressed in their distinctive orange uniform.

Unlike Royal Mail postmen, they have no obligation to meet targets set down by the regulator, such as the rule which says Royal Mail must aim to deliver 93 per cent of first-class mail the next day.

TNT Post wants to do more trials in cities across the UK, which poses a major problem for Royal Mail, because it will be left with the loss-making routes which no private business wants.

Royal Mail has already sharply hiked its stamp prices in a bid to make more money. A first-class stamp jumped from 46p to 60p in April, and could rise again at any time.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: ‘We are concerned about the impact of unfettered direct delivery competition.
‘Currently, competitors are allowed to “cherry-pick” higher density, more profitable routes in urban areas and ignore lower density rural areas where delivery is more costly.’

UK Mail chief executive Guy Buswell said TNT had ‘really upset the apple cart’ with its West London delivery trial.

A TNT Post spokesman said: ‘We disagree with the comments made in relation to TNT Post in this matter.’

[Wessex]

I do like the fact that the head of UK mail is blaming TNT for upsetting the apple-cart or should that be the golden goose? Can't wait to read the Mail comments section. Dinosaurs blah blah... ,car-workers blah blah...,sack the lot of them blah blah.

[Mr Rush]

It is interesting. The smaller DSA operators like UK Mail rely on (or should that be parasitise?) Royal Mail for delivery and have no intentions of setting up rival end-to-end networks, whereas TNT is drawing on the experience of its Dutch arm in a bid to launch a rival service.

[Wessex]

Yes UK mail are coining it in in from the sweat of Royal Mail posties, looks like they think tnt are too greedy wanting an extra slice of pie.

Boycott Leech Mail !!!

[mr ford]

It is interesting. The smaller DSA operators like UK Mail rely on (or should that be parasitise?) Royal Mail for delivery and have no intentions of setting up rival end-to-end networks, whereas TNT is drawing on the experience of its Dutch arm in a bid to launch a rival service.

think if the cost it would be impossible to launch a rival service that delivers u s o or even to the 99 per cent of the population . they have no intention

[Wessex]

Interesting to see what I thought of UKMail Director Mr.Buswell some two and a half years ago :


".......
Re: UK Mail hopes rival can fix its problems

Postby Wessex » Sun Mar 07, 2010 3:01,pm
I wonder whether Mr.Buswell knows what a parasite is ?
Here is one definition:

An organism that grows, feeds, and is sheltered on or in a different organism while contributing nothing to the survival of its host.

Sound familiar UK Mail , TNT, DHL et al ........"

Back to 2012 , obviously I have not changed my assessment,what is annoying is that these leeches are still living off the labour of the British postie.

Boycott DSA, Boycott Leech Mail.!!!

[PhilthyPhil]

It is interesting. The smaller DSA operators like UK Mail rely on (or should that be parasitise?) Royal Mail for delivery and have no intentions of setting up rival end-to-end networks, whereas TNT is drawing on the experience of its Dutch arm in a bid to launch a rival service.

UK Mail are the second biggest DSA operator after TNT I think.

[Mr Rush]

It is interesting. The smaller DSA operators like UK Mail rely on (or should that be parasitise?) Royal Mail for delivery and have no intentions of setting up rival end-to-end networks, whereas TNT is drawing on the experience of its Dutch arm in a bid to launch a rival service.

UK Mail are the second biggest DSA operator after TNT I think.

Yes, the most common DSA I see after TNT is UK Mail - what I meant was TNT is in a league of its own in terms of its operation considering it's trialled delivery before. And 'rival service' should obviously be read with implied quotation marks.

[fishtank]

Postmen are threatening to deliver only half the mail, a militant union warned last night.

I would have expected the CWU to be doing the warning but it looks like it was hijacked by some other union.
Maybe it was RMT or the International Union of Sex Workers.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Postmen are threatening to deliver only half the mail, a militant union warned last night.

I would have expected the CWU to be doing the warning but it looks like it was hijacked by some other union.
Maybe it was RMT or the International Union of Sex Workers.

Or the CWU in Trinidad and Tobago they appear quite militant

CWU: Threat to elevators if workers strike http://www.trinidadexpress.com/business ... 16251.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

could we threaten the lifts at RMHQ

[Donk]

.......and then pay Royal Mail to put them through the letterbox, known as the ‘final mile’.

I wish someone at RM or CWU HQ would highlight the fact that "the final mile" involves a hell of a lot more than putting them through the letterbox!

Accepting at the MC.
Bag tipping/segging out non-machineable to manual sorting.
Traying off.
Move to machines.
Run through the machines.
Tray off & seg for dispatch to DO.
Transport to DO.
etc, etc, etc.

[DGP1]

.......and then pay Royal Mail to put them through the letterbox, known as the ‘final mile’.

I wish someone at RM or CWU HQ would highlight the fact that "the final mile" involves a hell of a lot more than putting them through the letterbox!

Accepting at the MC.
Bag tipping/segging out non-machineable to manual sorting.
Traying off.
Move to machines.
Run through the machines.
Tray off & seg for dispatch to DO.
Transport to DO.
etc, etc, etc.

Hell yes..........and then there's all the crap we have to do when it reaches us at the DO before it goes out the door on it's 'final delivery'.

[Mr Rush]

'The final mile' is a telecoms sector phrase concerning the rough distance of the customer's phone to the local exchange. DSA is not unlike 'local loop unbundling' where BT has to open up their network to a bunch of pretenders to make it look like there's a free market and not a natural monopoly.

[Stormproof]

am surprised at a lot of the comments on the DM article supporting us.

[Darren Bent]

Final mile lol. We also have to walk about 6 miles for some delivery as we have to do other 500 houses before this house.