Royal Mail in 11th hour bid to stop postal strike

[NWpostie]

how do you think RM got before it goes really tits up ? I can't imagine the Govt allowing RM to collapse as a sole shareholder, but however the Tories are willing to sell RM and if a Privatised RM is going to collapse, who will come to the rescue ?

I don't think the Tories or Labour had thought that one through, given the nature of the business, standard commercial business model cannot be applied to RM, it is part social and essential as well as the only National infrastructure, TNT, UKmail etc could not hope to replicate this, if RM were to collapse, none of them can step in a fill the gaps, its too big, private companies have their place, some are specialised such as overnight parcel service, others generic small packet and letters, none of them are going to coordinate their services to replace it also a privatised Monopoly is never a good thing.

so some reality check is needed and look at ways of improving RM under Govt owned limited company structure, in order to comply with EU Postal liberalisation and keep it under public ownership & control, La Poste in France is going that way.

[stokes11eg]

Spot on North West---a sell out is (or was!) only a short term answer to boost the Government Coffers--having said that, I've always felt that somewhere along the line, after selling out, and by some miracle our new part owners made a success of things, then R/M would 'buy' back in.

[norbert]

Spot on North West---a sell out is (or was!) only a short term answer to boost the Government Coffers--having said that, I've always felt that somewhere along the line, after selling out, and by some miracle our new part owners made a success of things, then R/M would 'buy' back in.

There is a EEC directive about the ratio of national debt to Gross National Product - selling the nation's silver off on the cheap to their mates made the books look good for the tories prior to B-Liar taking over .

The irony is that these " brave new world " , privatized industries actually cost more in tax payer's subsidy as they are so inefficient , dysfunctional & fragmentized - then there's the bonuses to the brylcreemed gangsters & two bob spivs in charge - this is all to replicate share options in the private sector

[stokes11eg]

I hpoe you'r not ref. to our esteemed Lord Mandelson as a 'brylcreamed' Gangster!

[norbert]

I hpoe you'r not ref. to our esteemed Lord Mandelson as a 'brylcreamed' Gangster!

I doubt if his Mandiness would need any brylcreem to make his hair look darker , the last time I saw hair of that shade , hue and texture ; it was on a Grand National Winner .

Another political commentator said it matched some of the furniture in The House of Commons .

[stokes11eg]

No doubt helped by a bottle of Grecian 2000!

[norbert]

No doubt helped by a bottle of Grecian 2000!

more like Recital or Loreal , he used to have the mustache at one time , it was a sort of " code " that once included the wearing of white coat and the gold earring for certain clubs , that later graduated to the check shirt and the teddy bear , I doubt if that would look very New Labour

Nothing as flamboyant as this though for Mr " I'm a fighter , not a quitter "

http://www.youtube.com/user/jimx55" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Note to Mrs White , it's the funniness of it , caricatures of caricatures etc ; that's all . They'd have people shot at dawn for putting out comedy sketches like that these days

[andy2007]

Thats been tried for years and not gotten anyone anywhere. More to the point, casual labour is becoming commonplace with postal services and like I said, when jobs are scarce and money tight, sticking your neck out isn't an option for a lot of people, especially for those with families. I can see the pension being scrapped if we deliver a worse service and have months of industrial action this year. Dead man walking and all that. Grim but true.

Sorry axeman, no time to play your tit-for-tat games. Life is too short.

And there's the flaw in your logic: The use of casual labour, will reduce quality of service. If someone has no future with their Employer, then what's their motivation for doing more than is absolutely neccessary to get paid?
And please bear in mind, that the training that RM give now, is far less comprehensive than it once was.

So what do I believe is the answer?
Make RM more efficient. But instead of using the improved efficiency to reduce hours. Use the extra time, to improve quality. For example: If someone's rushing to sort the Mail in the shortest time possible, then there is an increased risk of mistakes. If they're able to slow down slightly, and take a bit more care over what they're doing. Then that will greatly reduce the risk of errors.

I've never worked in Deliveries, but I have spent a long time working the "Segs". And I've seen the amount of missorts increase, when people were carrying as many bags as possible at a time, and dropping them off in the appropriate cages, before returning for another load of them. That was stopped a while ago, after we started having too many injuries. And guess what?
Less mistakes, when we had to stop carrying armfuls of bags around.

Now don't get me wrong. I know that efficiency is about getting as much work done as possible in the least amount of time. But when you start rushing, instead of working smarter. Quality and safety suffer. And that's something that will ultimately be our downfall. But RM Management are so obsessed with how cheaply they can get the Mail delivered. That they seem to have lost sight of these facts. And so, it would appear, have you.

[borders]

could not agree more Linkinpark, the broken system-which i guess you mean Capitalism ? at the next election the only chioce we have is to vote for Tweedledee or Tweedledum , which party will manage Capitalism the best, that is for the 'National' interest not the 'Workers' interest. we are like turkeys voting for xmas, which party will make our lifes a little bit more bearable under Capitalism ? while we deny the exsistence of the class struggle, while we accept umpteen reforms- we will never get to tackle the root causes of the broken system.

[k979aaa]

Capitalism has been superseded by GLOBALISATION it in essence is pitting the lowest paid african/indian/asian economies against the western economies and driving down cost (wages) and maximising profit for the few!.

[k979aaa]

could not agree more Linkinpark, the broken system-which i guess you mean Capitalism ? at the next election the only chioce we have is to vote for Tweedledee or Tweedledum , which party will manage Capitalism the best, that is for the 'National' interest not the 'Workers' interest. we are like turkeys voting for xmas, which party will make our lifes a little bit more bearable under Capitalism ? while we deny the exsistence of the class struggle, while we accept umpteen reforms- we will never get to tackle the root causes of the broken system.

You could set up your own party!.

[borders]

will you join ? if you donate 1 million pounds into the coffers of my party , i will ensure you get a good deal- know what i mean ??!!!

[borders]

i agree with your post .surely it is the parties that perpetuate the present system we live under, which you suggested is broken . my reply was why do we continue to vote for these parties that believe in this system. it works for some i agree and maybe the rest of us should be grateful for small mercies ? K979 suggested i start up my own party but joking aside i know of parties that would put our interests first , i think along with you and all your mates far and awide we are not properly represented by the main parties.

[stokes11eg]

No doubt helped by a bottle of Grecian 2000!

more like Recital or Loreal , he used to have the mustache at one time , it was a sort of " code " that once included the wearing of white coat and the gold earring for certain clubs , that later graduated to the check shirt and the teddy bear , I doubt if that would look very New Labour

Nothing as flamboyant as this though for Mr " I'm a fighter , not a quitter "

http://www.youtube.com/user/jimx55" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Note to Mrs White , it's the funniness of it , caricatures of caricatures etc ; that's all . They'd have people shot at dawn for putting out comedy sketches like that these days

[k979aaa]

And how we laugh at the american political system and it's funding? but look at ours it is hilarious it is time for individuals not parties!.