Darren Jones MP - select committee - - what's happening?

[redlen]

Maximise share holder dividends at the expense of the workforce

[korky]

in an ideal world they should have the power/funding to send in random ofcom regulators into d/o's and also set up a whistle blowing site to flag up offices where we can post the failures that day that may have gone unreported without getting into trouble and do spot checks within RM and start issuing fines to pay for it, kinda like a traffic warden that funds itself and even make a profit for them, the USO is the key to getting the morons who run this company the sack
i know they can't visit us all, but daily random late checks would have them worried

[POSTMAN]

CWU:

The Select Committee will issue their report on the Royal Mail Group hearings tomorrow.
We will keep members fully informed of any developments.
We will also look to update members on wider issues tomorrow.

[lobsterhands]

CWU:

The Select Committee will issue their report on the Royal Mail Group hearings tomorrow.
We will keep members fully informed of any developments.
We will also look to update members on wider issues tomorrow.

Just about to forward on that from CWU twitter account, you beat me to it.

[Tman]

Maximise share holder dividends at the expense of the workforce

So you claim the government are doing this?

[theotherone]

Royal Mail should be subjected to new Ofcom enforcement investigation

· Firm has ‘systemically failed to deliver’ on legal obligation to deliver letters to all addresses six days a week
· Committee concludes PDAs are being used by Royal Mail to track and discipline workers

The cross-party Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee has referred Royal Mail to Ofcom for breaching the universal service obligation. In its new report, published today, the Committee also says that the Royal Mail CEO was not wholly accurate in his answers on the use of digital assistants to track and discipline workers.

Universal Service Obligation (USO)

Royal Mail is required by law to deliver letters across the country six days a week. This statutory obligation is referred to as the USO.

The Committee has concluded that Royal Mail “systemically failed to deliver” parts of its USO, citing the widespread evidence of the company’s deprioritisation of letters over parcels.

The Committee calls on the postal services regulator, Ofcom, to open an enforcement investigation into Royal Mail’s USO delivery, engaging with postal workers, and to report back to the Committee by the end of the year.

Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)

Royal Mail denied having any knowledge of the tracking of postal workers using technology and said evidence of this practice, and of managers disciplining postal workers using such data, was due to non-compliance with Royal Mail policy.

MPs on the Committee “did not believe that such widespread errors […] could happen without direct or indirect approval of management”. If bosses truly did know nothing about these practices, MPs urged the Royal Mail’s Board to review management of the firm on grounds of negligence.

The unanimously agreed report calls on the Information Commissioner to check the legal basis for the collection and use of this data.

BEIS Committee Chair Darren Jones said,

“I find it hard to believe that such widespread breaches of company policy and legal obligations are down to a national network of rogue workers conspiring against management at Royal Mail.

We were inundated with evidence from postal workers challenging the accuracy of answers given by Royal Mail CEO Simon Thompson. Frankly, the failures in company policy which Mr Thompson has admitted to can only be due to either an unacceptable level of incompetence or an unacceptable level of cluelessness about what is happening at Royal Mail.

Hiding behind the pandemic as a driving factor in failures at Royal Mail does not cut it. Ofcom must start enforcement proceedings to ensure everyone gets a consistent service wherever they are. Otherwise, what’s the point in having a universal service obligation at all?”

........

CWU General Secretary Dave Ward said “The report vindicates why the workforce have lost total confidence in CEO Simon Thompson and his senior leadership appointees. Their mantra of ‘our business to run’ has seen a vicious and unprecedented level of attacks on postal workers and the service they provide. The deliberate running down of the universal service obligation has actually worsened not improved since the Select Committee.

Although the Board have now intervened in the dispute and talks continue with direct Board involvement, the stark reality is, if we reach an agreement, there is no prospect of taking the workforce with us unless there is a change of attitude and personnel within the senior leadership of the company.”

[Cucumber]

Time will tell if the whole select committee appearance and fallout will have any impact on the deal that we eventually get.
All eyes will very soon be on the ‘best and final offer’ made last year and it will be compared in minute detail to what we eventually come out with.
Bearing in mind we have now nearly 4 months since that offer and if turns out that we get the same deal rebranded and maybe an extra £100 lump sum we will actually be out of pocket

[norris9]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64972913

If Royal Mail are genuinely struggling then either...

-The government needs to take it back into public ownership.
-A 5 day letter service should happen, but ofcom needs to be able to strictly regulate that Royal Mail are sticking to a 5 day USO, because this company will rub their hands at a 5 day service and then provide a 3 or 4 day service by understaffing us further.

[Surfpostie]

A massive thanks to Darren Jones for taking on all the e-mails he has received from posties. . Now the ball is in Ofcom’s court,will the do anything?

[FilthyBloke]

All ofcom will do is fine a company that says it can’t afford to give us a pay deal.

[priority102]

This report probably plays right into the boards hands..... after many months of "investigation", it will be a huge fine by OFCOM as it's the easy option for them, this equals less money again for workforce, and the excuse for less put on a plate for them. Don't forget, the only side that MP's are on these days are their own!

[Shadedpostie]

A massive thanks to Darren Jones for taking on all the e-mails he has received from posties. . Now the ball is in Ofcom’s court,will the do anything?

The only outcome I see happening is they fine Royal Mail again, then the board will turn around to union and say we can't afford a high pay rise so here's your s**t one instead. Completely backed the union into a corner on this one with this investigation, probably the opposite of what they wanted. All ST and co got really was a right telling off and that's it. They really don't give a s**t about that though.

[datasaint]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64972913

If Royal Mail are genuinely struggling then either...

-The government needs to take it back into public ownership.
-A 5 day letter service should happen, but ofcom needs to be able to strictly regulate that Royal Mail are sticking to a 5 day USO, because this company will rub their hands at a 5 day service and then provide a 3 or 4 day service by understaffing us further.

The gov fought tooth and nail to offload RM to the private market in the first place, can't see them wanting to take it back when it's losing so much money now.

More likely they'll back down on objections to changing the USO. Which was likely the company strategy all along. With a 3 day a week USO, fewer mail centres, lower paid staff, owner drivers, RM would make a fortune.

[citypostie]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64972913

If Royal Mail are genuinely struggling then either...

-The government needs to take it back into public ownership.
-A 5 day letter service should happen, but ofcom needs to be able to strictly regulate that Royal Mail are sticking to a 5 day USO, because this company will rub their hands at a 5 day service and then provide a 3 or 4 day service by understaffing us further.

The gov fought tooth and nail to offload RM to the private market in the first place, can't see them wanting to take it back when it's losing so much money now.

More likely they'll back down on objections to changing the USO. Which was likely the company strategy all along. With a 3 day a week USO, fewer mail centres, lower paid staff, owner drivers, RM would make a fortune.

They are struggling to get the government to agree Mon to Friday USO so 3 days won't be happening anytime soon, there would be uproar across the country

[SpacePhoenix]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64972913

If Royal Mail are genuinely struggling then either...

-The government needs to take it back into public ownership.
-A 5 day letter service should happen, but ofcom needs to be able to strictly regulate that Royal Mail are sticking to a 5 day USO, because this company will rub their hands at a 5 day service and then provide a 3 or 4 day service by understaffing us further.

The gov fought tooth and nail to offload RM to the private market in the first place, can't see them wanting to take it back when it's losing so much money now.

More likely they'll back down on objections to changing the USO. Which was likely the company strategy all along. With a 3 day a week USO, fewer mail centres, lower paid staff, owner drivers, RM would make a fortune.

Can't see them closing MCs as the letters will still need processing, you physically can't sequence three days worth of letters on a CSS in one go and most of the space in a MC is used for processing Tracked and packets anyway. Think it'd affect DOs more as for "walkers" (those who can't drive) they'll end up doing really long days or end up part time. The other way they might do it is rotate which walks letters go out on which days