Update sort of.

[taurus88]

I agree that the CWU have already helped created a job which only the younger workforce can achieve without considerable physical consequences.

The younger people aren't coping. Who can cope with walking 10 miles a day, 5 days a week. Bending, lifting, twisting. It's exhausting. Everyday my legs ache, everyday my knees burn. Even if you push through with it and stay committed and loyal to the job, whoever you are you will have aches and pains regularly, if not all the time.

The number 1 thing that would make me quit the job is how I feel physically. It's now Sunday and I am shattered and know I have to go and walk another 10 miles tomorrow. It's pretty ridiculous when you think about it.

Imagine someone did a 10 mile walk as a hobby - you'd think they were mental.

This is exactly it and it’s why so many of us feel short-changed by a poor pay deal given that we’re feeling the brunt of it every day. There’s nobody at our place, even the under 30s, who aren’t suffering some ill-effects because of the workload on delivery.

The fact that volumes have gone down is irrelevant because we’re all pushing/pulling/carrying more weight, and for longer. Ten years ago, your knees weren’t pounding out every mile, you could scoot along on a bike and get some welcome respite. Now, you’re walking every bit of every mile with the weight on top of it.

And more and more staff are realising that it’s just not worth it. The job pays more than some unskilled labour, but it does not pay enough to compensate for the slow ruining of your body. RM trying to pay new-starts less for a worse job is laughable - the attrition rate is already high at the higher pay rate.

When we talk about the job going down the pan, this is the reality of it - you’re working harder for longer, with worse health outcomes, knowing that your rate of pay is effectively dropping due to inflation. This is how delivery is evolving, and it is awful. Once a deal is agreed, a lot of staff will leave - many are only hanging on in expectation of back pay or a lump sum that they don’t want to miss out on.

It’s just my opinion, but in a decade on delivery, the job has devolved from being one of the best and easiest jobs to being one of the worst and hardest. And, tellingly, the promise from above is that the worst is yet to come. I would no longer recommend this job to anybody.

[k979aaa]

I agree that the CWU have already helped created a job which only the younger workforce can achieve without considerable physical consequences.

The younger people aren't coping. Who can cope with walking 10 miles a day, 5 days a week. Bending, lifting, twisting. It's exhausting. Everyday my legs ache, everyday my knees burn. Even if you push through with it and stay committed and loyal to the job, whoever you are you will have aches and pains regularly, if not all the time.

The number 1 thing that would make me quit the job is how I feel physically. It's now Sunday and I am shattered and know I have to go and walk another 10 miles tomorrow. It's pretty ridiculous when you think about it.

Imagine someone did a 10 mile walk as a hobby - you'd think they were mental.

This is exactly it and it’s why so many of us feel short-changed by a poor pay deal given that we’re feeling the brunt of it every day. There’s nobody at our place, even the under 30s, who aren’t suffering some ill-effects because of the workload on delivery.

The fact that volumes have gone down is irrelevant because we’re all pushing/pulling/carrying more weight, and for longer. Ten years ago, your knees weren’t pounding out every mile, you could scoot along on a bike and get some welcome respite. Now, you’re walking every bit of every mile with the weight on top of it.

And more and more staff are realising that it’s just not worth it. The job pays more than some unskilled labour, but it does not pay enough to compensate for the slow ruining of your body. RM trying to pay new-starts less for a worse job is laughable - the attrition rate is already high at the higher pay rate.

When we talk about the job going down the pan, this is the reality of it - you’re working harder for longer, with worse health outcomes, knowing that your rate of pay is effectively dropping due to inflation. This is how delivery is evolving, and it is awful. Once a deal is agreed, a lot of staff will leave - many are only hanging on in expectation of back pay or a lump sum that they don’t want to miss out on.

It’s just my opinion, but in a decade on delivery, the job has devolved from being one of the best and easiest jobs to being one of the worst and hardest. And, tellingly, the promise from above is that the worst is yet to come. I would no longer recommend this job to anybody.

I agree and managers should invest in a good pair of boots because the workers are leaving in their droves!

[datasaint]

Isn't the point to make the workload on letter delivery unachievable? That way ..

1) People quit, saving them money, and diluting the union as new starters on less pay may be less inclined to join.
2) RM can argue to the regulator they've tried making savings, but the USO still isn't sustainable/workable.
3) Failures in the USO could be attributed to a shortage of recruitment if people are no longer willing to do the job
4) If the level of service declines more, less customers will consider sending letters, so another win for RM.

[k979aaa]

Isn't the point to make the workload on letter delivery unachievable? That way ..

1) People quit, saving them money, and diluting the union as new starters on less pay may be less inclined to join.
2) RM can argue to the regulator they've tried making savings, but the USO still isn't sustainable/workable.
3) Failures in the USO could be attributed to a shortage of recruitment if people are no longer willing to do the job
4) If the level of service declines more, less customers will consider sending letters, so another win for RM.

A race to the bottom