POSTAL STRIKE FEAR FOR MAIL ORDER COMPANY

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://tinyurl.com/28efrs

Its the comments that are good in this one:

11:00 - 25 September 2007

Mail order business owner Ann Walker fears planned postal strikes could cost her company more than £10,000 and bring it 'to its knees'.

The Newton Abbot-based mail order company, International Dance Supplies, employs 56 people and relies heavily on Royal Mail for their business.Dance Supplies sends around 1,000 parcels a week and receives cheques from customers in the post via Royal Mail.

The successful company supplies individuals and companies across the UK and abroad with dance equipment, ballet shoes, leotards and costumes.

But Ann fears two, two-day, strikes planned for October could force her to use a courier company, adding around £2 to the cost of sending one parcel.

She said: "It will be a complete nightmare for us and could bring the company to its knees. It's our busiest time of the year. I just feel we are being dictated to by Royal Mail and there isn't really a good alternative in the UK.

"The last strike severely damaged the business costing us several thousand pounds extra. If it goes on for the whole of October, which I have heard it could, then it will cost us over £10,000.

"The three months leading up to Christmas are our busiest time. Children are back at school and buying leotards and people are buying costumes for shows."

But Ann, who started the company with a £50 loan from her mum, says she will not put her worker's jobs on the line.

"We provide an excellent service with 90 per cent of our orders going out the same day. But we will have to pass the extra cost on to customers because we cannot absorb it.

"The loss will be purely financial because I will not put people's jobs in jeopardy. I have got to fight for their jobs."

The latest threat of action comes after five weeks of talks between the Communication Workers Union and Royal Mail failed to reach an agreement.

Postal staff plan to strike on October 5 and 6, then again on October 8 and 9 as the dispute over pay, pensions and working patterns continues.

Phil Chadwick, branch secretary of the western counties branch of the CWU, said the union 'sympathised' with Royal Mail customers.

"It's a sad situation that we finds ourselves in. It's very disappointing that we are having to take strike action. But after five weeks of negotiations, Royal Mail have been completely irresponsible in presenting the original documentation affecting pensions and pay.

"They are holding their customers to ransom and hoping they will stick around and still use them."

Royal Mail has condemned the latest strikes and argues the union does not understand the challenges facing the industry, with an 'urgent' need to modernise in order to survive.

They said: "The call for further strikes does not change the urgent need for Royal Mail to modernise and become more flexible and efficient if it is to survive.

"For our people, flexibility would simply mean working the hours they are paid to work and to do what they are trained to do in a safe environment - something which has been taken for granted for many years in almost every company in the UK."

[Carla]

The diff there is that she cares about her staff which can be more than said for leighton and crozier they don't give two monkey about us :cfo :lfo

[somerset]

http://tinyurl.com/28efrs

Its the comments that are good in this one:

11:00 - 25 September 2007

Mail order business owner Ann Walker fears planned postal strikes could cost her company more than £10,000 and bring it 'to its knees'.

The Newton Abbot-based mail order company, International Dance Supplies, employs 56 people and relies heavily on Royal Mail for their business.Dance Supplies sends around 1,000 parcels a week and receives cheques from customers in the post via Royal Mail.

The successful company supplies individuals and companies across the UK and abroad with dance equipment, ballet shoes, leotards and costumes.

But Ann fears two, two-day, strikes planned for October could force her to use a courier company, adding around £2 to the cost of sending one parcel.

She said: "It will be a complete nightmare for us and could bring the company to its knees. It's our busiest time of the year. I just feel we are being dictated to by Royal Mail and there isn't really a good alternative in the UK.

"The last strike severely damaged the business costing us several thousand pounds extra. If it goes on for the whole of October, which I have heard it could, then it will cost us over £10,000.

"The three months leading up to Christmas are our busiest time. Children are back at school and buying leotards and people are buying costumes for shows."

But Ann, who started the company with a £50 loan from her mum, says she will not put her worker's jobs on the line.

"We provide an excellent service with 90 per cent of our orders going out the same day. But we will have to pass the extra cost on to customers because we cannot absorb it.

"The loss will be purely financial because I will not put people's jobs in jeopardy. I have got to fight for their jobs."

The latest threat of action comes after five weeks of talks between the Communication Workers Union and Royal Mail failed to reach an agreement.

Postal staff plan to strike on October 5 and 6, then again on October 8 and 9 as the dispute over pay, pensions and working patterns continues.

Phil Chadwick, branch secretary of the western counties branch of the CWU, said the union 'sympathised' with Royal Mail customers.

"It's a sad situation that we finds ourselves in. It's very disappointing that we are having to take strike action. But after five weeks of negotiations, Royal Mail have been completely irresponsible in presenting the original documentation affecting pensions and pay.

"They are holding their customers to ransom and hoping they will stick around and still use them."

Royal Mail has condemned the latest strikes and argues the union does not understand the challenges facing the industry, with an 'urgent' need to modernise in order to survive.

They said: "The call for further strikes does not change the urgent need for Royal Mail to modernise and become more flexible and efficient if it is to survive.

"For our people, flexibility would simply mean working the hours they are paid to work and to do what they are trained to do in a safe environment - something which has been taken for granted for many years in almost every company in the UK."

Well where do you start with this post? Words fail me.Every sentence has something? £2 extra for sending it by courier. YEAH bring it on TNT. Comptetion my AR**S

[Stormproof]

I am beginning to have the attitude 'I don't give a f**k', its no good these businesses keep harping on to the press, they need to go higher. If they hassled their MP's or whatever something might get done.

[IWW Fellow Worker]

"We provide an excellent service with 90 per cent of our orders going out the same day.

Not for much longer if RM gets its way. Welcome to efficiency!

[pickaname]

http://tinyurl.com/28efrs


"The loss will be purely financial because I will not put people's jobs in jeopardy. I have got to fight for their jobs."

."

Nothing like good old solidarity to save jobs then, Ann? Bitch...

[Carla]

http://tinyurl.com/28efrs


"The loss will be purely financial because I will not put people's jobs in jeopardy. I have got to fight for their jobs."

."

Nothing like good old solidarity to save jobs then, Ann? Bitch...

Least she isn't gonna cut staff wages nor show the the door least give her that compared to the two twats that we have to contend with the question is do they care about us the answer is no, Maybe she might actually make a better RM boss than them two :cfo :lfo

[dvbuk55]

I'm not too sure how, if the cost will be passed on to the customer, she stands to lose £10k. I found it rather poignant that she was concerned about her employees but didn't actually cross the divide and realise the difficulty she will be experiencing is because WE are concerned about our jobs. If the RM Board shared her anxieties we wouldn't be in this mess and neither would she.

[Carla]

Have to agree with you on this one

[BELIAL]

40% more efficient and somehow charge an extra £2 to deliver a leotard or pair of shoes, hmm.

[POSTMAN]

Be carefull with the comments as i'm gonna contact her,then maybe they will do a piece about our side of it all.

[barkersboy]

Well said Postman. On my last picket line several of our local small/medium size customers (people I have personally served) stopped to ask me what the strike was all about. I explained in a fair way. These customers had seen a decline in their service and were concerned. 2 of these customers asked me how they could back us. I asked them to bombard their MPs and local councillors. 1 said he was a member of several organisations (chamber of commerce, round table etc). These are the organisations we should be out and explaining our concerns to. What is the CWU doing? Organisations are prepared to listen to counter arguments to RMs dictats.
I ask what are CWU doing?

[krooserman1802]

Thats nothng...did she care about me when she put up the prices of ballet shoes and tutu's No! I had to fashion my own out of old grey mail bags and the shoes were made from cardboard and red elastic bands. Didn't care about me and how I felt...

[guswood]

Trouble is that Leighton and Crozier don't give a toss about their customers, only the bottom line on the balance sheet !

[tpost]

Trouble is that Leighton and Crozier don't give a toss about their customers, only the bottom line on the balance sheet !

They don't give a toss about us either