Are Royal Mail Cuts Going To Far?

[johnnyp]

03 October 2008 by Steve Lawson - © Hellmail.co.uk





Are Royal Mail Cuts Going To Far? Seems a reasonable enough question with so much talk of extended walks and fewer opportunities for full-time workers.

Royal Mail has been under continual pressure over the last couple of years to reduce costs partly through a changing business, pressure from competitors and indeed the regulator to slash operating costs. People are certainly leaving the business, and around 80% of those I used to have regular contact with at Royal Mail have since left and/or found other jobs in entirely different industries so the pressure is real enough.

For the CWU is has been a disheartening process as although it has managed to hang on to certain things, the Royal Mail is changing rapidly and the union has far less of a grip on the direction of the business than it once had.

One postal worker I spoke to had grave concerns for domestic postal services:

"It looks entirely possible that soon delivery points which fall outside a densely populated area will not have a daily delivery, and possibly no delivery without extra charges. Any business may have to find extra money to pay for mail delivery or collection or both, and domestic recipients might well find themselves renting mailboxes in specially designated "centres" or stumping up a surcharge to have a personal delivery."

"Wages have been cut (6.9% over the period since the strikes, weighed against the government inflationary measure taken together with the extra work staff now do since the changes to working practices were introduced have represented a dramatic reduction in pay- those who voted to accept the "deal" to resolve the strikes should have seen it coming before agreeing to it, and it is too late now to reverse it). Overtime is being "designed out" of the system so any family breadwinner/s will have to find other work to put extra money in the kitty, or just do without."

"Staff hours are being accounted for to the minute, and that includes making staff deliberately later out on delivery, which means the customer is later in receiving their mail. Once, it could be a disciplinary matter if a delivery officer was late out, having to be ready to post the first letter at 0700. Now mail doesn't often get out till almost three hours later. And it will probably get later still. The Confederation for Small Businesses, representing the majority of the generators of the country's GDP, doesn't like this one bit, and nor does the average domestic customer."

"Consequently, mail often fails to get delivered by the designated officer, and the reality is that that mail could well not be delivered that day at all. Managers are faced with taking it, if they have time. Which means they are not doing what they are paid for. And that postal staff, in their shape, are being paid much more than delivery officers for the same work. It is iniquitous and absurd, and causes resentment all round. In addition, staff are meant to absorb duties not covered because of planned or unplanned absence, and that can only add to the chaos." he said.

The rate and timetable of change at Royal Mail has been filtered down to area and delivery office managers who more often than not, are finding themselves out on walks themselves, trying to clear deliveries that have arisen because of absences. One manager said:

"When all this change began, most of use went along with it on the basis that all these changes were essential to keep us in business and whilst thats true to some extent, I also have an obligation to the people who are being asked to adapt to these changes. Its a brutal reduction in costs on a local level and even amongst managers, the enthusiam for this constant barrage of cuts is waning. We are asking an enormous amount of those out on delivery now and its not a job you'd go into blindly. At one time, a postman's job was an attractive one with a generous pension, but thats all changed now. The job is hard going and many are leaving to go to less-stressful and frankly better paid jobs in other lines of work." he said.

Royal Mail has made cuts and with delivery offices earmarked for closure in many areas of the country, the cuts will continue. The price though is likely to be a heavy one for domestic mail users and small business, particularly with a completely redesigned complaints structure which places greater emphasis on fining postal operators than actually improving complaints procedures and like all target-based structures that use fines as a method of improving quality, the temptation to hide things (much like caterers when the environmental health inspector calls), is likely to be greater than ever.

In the end, such principles just merely encourage industries to find smarter ways to avoid fines and meet targets - and that can only be bad for consumers. Whilst Consumer Focus, the new consumer body, may be able to look at larger issues, many customers will find themselves left high and dry now. The cuts are hardly Royal Mail's choice but those pushing for all these cuts run the risk of ending up with a domestic mail service that to all intents and purposes, is broken.

© Hellmail.co.uk - Postal Industry News

http://www.hellmail.co.uk/postalnews/te ... 8&zoneid=3

[POSTMAN]

Shouldn't that be TOO far for f***s sake,jeeeeeeeeeeze
How many flannels do these guys wash with as well................2?

[Big Daz]

Look who is posting negative articles now!


Two faced blighters!!!!!!

[TrueBlueTerrier]

And that postal staff, in their shape, are being paid much more than delivery officers for the same work.

Never mind starting a sentence with a conjunction - what the hell does this mean. I thought all delivery officers were postal staff. and what does "in their shape" actually mean in this sentence.

[Post Off]

03 October 2008 by Steve Lawson - © Hellmail.co.uk

"When all this change began, most of use went along with it on the basis that all these changes were essential to keep us in business and whilst thats true to some extent, I also have an obligation to the people who are being asked to adapt to these changes. Its a brutal reduction in costs on a local level and even amongst managers, the enthusiam for this constant barrage of cuts is waning. We are asking an enormous amount of those out on delivery now and its not a job you'd go into blindly. At one time, a postman's job was an attractive one with a generous pension, but thats all changed now. The job is hard going and many are leaving to go to less-stressful and frankly better paid jobs in other lines of work." he said.

© Hellmail.co.uk - Postal Industry News

http://www.hellmail.co.uk/postalnews/te ... 8&zoneid=3

RM's methods have often smacked of brutality to me. I doubt very much that they've had the slightest interest in re-molding its workforce following any sensible procedures. They're just intent on breaking all of us no matter how much it hurts -- us, that is.

In a way, I think they're exploiting us, in that they're using us to paper over the cracks in their mistakes that they've obviously created in whatever plan they had first envisioned.

I'm pretty sure that any new technology that RM do settle for won't be benefiting anyone, especially if the place is run like a mad house.

[pinstripe]

In a way, I think they're exploiting us, in that they're using us to paper over the cracks in their mistakes that they've obviously created in whatever plan they had first envisioned.

I agree, although I think there plan was thought up over an extended liquid lunch.