What does the future hold for the humble postie.

[guardianangel]

People can cling on to those halcyon days all they like but Royal Mail will slowly align with other delivery companies.
The Union have done a decent job of delaying and mitigating this so far despite what the extremists on here say.

That comment there is the exact reason why the delivery sector is one of the worst to work in for pay terms and conditions ,the acceptance by the unions and workers that we are worthless, we are not.

What are you proposing instead to get much better wages and conditions and yet stay competitive?

You have been listening to the rhetoric from Royal Mail and CWU HQ, its always been the case they must deliver letters and parcels under the rules of the privatisation,if that means the parcels keeping letters a float so be it,just because Amazon are making billions doesn't mean every delivery company has too,Royal Mail was the 2nd biggest profit earner in the UK last year and chose to give all that away,why should workers except so little so the elitists can make more money ,it doesn't have to be this way but if you carry on excepting it then that's what you'll get.

[heraldmoth]

The future is certainly longer and later deliveries and maybe a 5 day USO.

The delivery sector as a whole is having recruitment problems as it’s long hours for poor pay. Hopefully a recruitment crises in the sector will work to our advantage.

Just means more work will come back and be loaded onto us. Other firms seem good on paper but once those nice new vans aren’t roadworthy then it won’t look as attractive

[milly]

People can cling on to those halcyon days all they like but Royal Mail will slowly align with other delivery companies.
The Union have done a decent job of delaying and mitigating this so far despite what the extremists on here say.

That comment there is the exact reason why the delivery sector is one of the worst to work in for pay terms and conditions ,the acceptance by the unions and workers that we are worthless, we are not.

What are you proposing instead to get much better wages and conditions and yet stay competitive?

You have been listening to the rhetoric from Royal Mail and CWU HQ, its always been the case they must deliver letters and parcels under the rules of the privatisation,if that means the parcels keeping letters a float so be it,just because Amazon are making billions doesn't mean every delivery company has too,Royal Mail was the 2nd biggest profit earner in the UK last year and chose to give all that away,why should workers except so little so the elitists can make more money ,it doesn't have to be this way but if you carry on excepting it then that's what you'll get.

The vast majority of the money made in that time actually came from the taxpayer during Covid.
It was mainly a taxpayer funded profit.

[Nickvilla20]

The future is certainly longer and later deliveries and maybe a 5 day USO.

The delivery sector as a whole is having recruitment problems as it’s long hours for poor pay. Hopefully a recruitment crises in the sector will work to our advantage.

Just means more work will come back and be loaded onto us. Other firms seem good on paper but once those nice new vans aren’t roadworthy then it won’t look as attractive

Evri and Yodel on my round use their own cars and phones the companies literally supply them with nothing. Even DPD are making their drivers use their own phones to scan parcels.

Something has to give eventually and hopefully it will be to the advantage of the staff but while people are willing to work for below minimum wage then nothing will change.

[stevejm]

Customers want the item next day is a myth otherwise why have we brought in auto re-delivery? In my opinion the “humble” postie will become a part time no pride in the job affair com in around 9 and deliver mail till abt 2 then if u want full time it’s parcels 10-7 for u my laddy

I can see separation of the letters and parcel business, as you say. But I think we'll eventually get to letters every other day, so three days a week. Lets face it, for many walks, that is what it is at the moment.

My colleague who delivers to my home has been off sick for a week. Tuesday to Friday no letters went out, just the tracked. I went and got my mail out of the fitting yesterday. The fitting was rammed. I had my rest day Friday. Came in yesterday and nothing had been delivered on Friday - 'cept the tracked of course.

So in a way, the Public are being conditioned to accept a lousy (fraudulent) letter service so that when they finally permit the USO to be reduced it'll be seen as adjusting the rules to match the new reality - rather than changing the rules to create a new reality. Same thing is happening in the NHS and train service (re-nationalisation by stealth).

[milly]

The future is certainly longer and later deliveries and maybe a 5 day USO.

The delivery sector as a whole is having recruitment problems as it’s long hours for poor pay. Hopefully a recruitment crises in the sector will work to our advantage.

Just means more work will come back and be loaded onto us. Other firms seem good on paper but once those nice new vans aren’t roadworthy then it won’t look as attractive

Evri and Yodel on my round use their own cars and phones the companies literally supply them with nothing. Even DPD are making their drivers use their own phones to scan parcels.

Something has to give eventually and hopefully it will be to the advantage of the staff but while people are willing to work for below minimum wage then nothing will change.

Why can companies get away with this there must be a reason?

[Basildon Bond]

The future of Royal Mail is in the hands of those at the top and what they choose to focus on.

While the company is private the focus will surely always be on shareholder profit. There seems to be some conflation between being profitable and being competitive. Those terms should be kept separate. You can be competitive and make little to no profit. Royal Mail is so focused on profit it’s causing problems. Twitter is very “competitive” and doesn’t make a profit. Facebook ran for years without any profit. These are billion dollar companies.

Now giving out shares is not an evil and greedy thing per se. It is the original crowd-funding idea. Before shares a business would have to go to friends and family, but more likely the bank and get a loan and the banks had a lot of the power. If a farmer wanted to buy a bigger field, or more chickens, or a larger tractor to compete with another farm and the bank denied the loan then selling shares where you as an individual can own a piece of the business and help that farmer succeed sounds kind of nice. And you get paid a dividend on your shares as a rewards for risking your money in a business that could fail. For example if the new tractor had a fuel leak and set fire to the house and barn, and apart from 60 roast chickens for sale there are now little to no assets to be shared out to the smaller investors.

If the company is run by people who focus on that shareholder profit then the focus is always going to be on how much profit it can make in the next few years – long-term thinking and future planning can be ignored.

If there was a big change of direction at the top where what the company needs to do for the country and how it goes about achieving that was put first as the priority then you may see a difference.

It seems that there is far more money in parcels than letters and so, as the focus is on profit, the company is looking to accommodate parcels first and kick the efficient delivery of letters down the road for discussion another day – the failing USO etc.

If you need to prioritise parcels then it makes sense to look at other parcel companies and mimic what they are doing in an attempt to try to catch up or even overtake them in what services are offered. You would implement things like scanning parcels multiple times so the customer can see what’s happening at every stage. And you could start an auto-redelivery service as a “great for the customer” idea. Then cross your fingers your business grows. The postie doesn’t like it but the company is looking to help customers before us.

It may be that privatisation was a terrible thing for a company that provides a service like letter delivery because while it is still very much needed for the country, if there is no money in it the company will not spend the required amount of money to maintain the service let alone improve it for the current marketplace.

What does the future hold for Royal Mail? Well it could get worse or it could get better. It depends if you are looking, for example, three months, three years, or three decades into the future. In the short to medium term it will most likely get worse – at least while those at the top ignore letters and if they continue to push for parcels and profit. If Royal Mail could defocus on profit and instead look to the quality of service of both letters and parcels and stop being jealous of Fedex, DPD, Evri, UPS, et al. and their “profitable” stream of parcels (using pence per drop and owner-drivers etc. who work late into the night) they could change (back) into a very well respected, durable, dependable, and steadfast part of the UK for years to come.

[Dorset Plodder]

I think something that a lot of people miss ... especially RM Management .... is that most of these other couriers are CRAP and totally UNRELIABLE!

I shudder that we're meant to imitate them. I can't get my head around their Business Models. Fair enough Amazon can look quite professional with signed vehicles, but we're STILL delivering their AMAZON Prime products because .... Surprise Surprise..... they can't get there for 1300! Perhaps that's something to do with leaving the Depot at 1000 (something they want us to do)! Anyone else noticed that especially on Rurals we get the AMAZON parcels for the Remote locations?

Call me Old Fashioned but watching scruffy, dirty "Life Style Couriers" rushing around in dirty, battered old cars throwing EVRI parcels into customers porches and not even ringing the bell seems wrong. But if they're making money for the Top Guys I suppose that's OK. Ironically I've also watched these type of Couriers in nearly new Range Rovers, dressed like they're off clubbing delivering the same EVRI packets, God knows how they make it work for them?

I agree with you that we have changed and nowadays it feels more like being an office worker with all the stuff we have to scroll through on the Bloody PDA. One thing that would make my life much more "Efficient" would be if the Tracked parcels had peelable numbers on them, like the signed fors. I just love love standing in the rain trying to read, and then write, several Tracked Items numbers ... onto a piece of damp paper.

However I do as I'm told now and on the second Redelivery Day ... I'll do the same again. Just means more mail gets returned to the office.

[Nickvilla20]

Why can companies get away with this there must be a reason?

You can probably make decent money as a courier if you’re willing to put in the 12 hour days. Must also be the flexibility they offer with hours.

I think many thought think the job is easy but to be honest i have no idea how they attract staff.

[hazzeem025]

The USO will go down to 5 days. Then 4. People are already conditioned to getting their mail 3-4 days a week, so won't care if the USO is changed.

[calsae]

The biggest problem the postie faces is coming to terms with not giving a sh1t about their customers anymore. We are our own worst enemies, managers don’t care about our customers, why should we
As I’ve said previously in other posts, life as a postie is great once you stop caring. Do you hours, do as little as possible, don’t leave a minute before your finish time, follow all procedures as instructed and you will suddenly realise this is a brilliant job.
Make no mistake this company is going down the pan one way or another, breaking your body isn’t going to help you in the long term.

[guardianangel]

People can cling on to those halcyon days all they like but Royal Mail will slowly align with other delivery companies.
The Union have done a decent job of delaying and mitigating this so far despite what the extremists on here say.

That comment there is the exact reason why the delivery sector is one of the worst to work in for pay terms and conditions ,the acceptance by the unions and workers that we are worthless, we are not.

What are you proposing instead to get much better wages and conditions and yet stay competitive?

You have been listening to the rhetoric from Royal Mail and CWU HQ, its always been the case they must deliver letters and parcels under the rules of the privatisation,if that means the parcels keeping letters a float so be it,just because Amazon are making billions doesn't mean every delivery company has too,Royal Mail was the 2nd biggest profit earner in the UK last year and chose to give all that away,why should workers except so little so the elitists can make more money ,it doesn't have to be this way but if you carry on excepting it then that's what you'll get.

The vast majority of the money made in that time actually came from the taxpayer during Covid.
It was mainly a taxpayer funded profit.

Wherever the profit comes from there is profit to be had ,all companies around the world should be reinvesting in the people that make that profit not feeding their bank accounts when they have more money than they could ever spend,as long as we sit back and just accept what they say and do and never question them we will end up with weak unions who are more afraid of their own bank accounts than helping the members who pay their wages,i'll be voting NO as will most posties in our office ,the deal is dead and they know it,branch after branch are now recommending not to accept the deal and i just hope Ward and Furey are planning for plan B or writing their resignation letters.

[milly]

People can cling on to those halcyon days all they like but Royal Mail will slowly align with other delivery companies.
The Union have done a decent job of delaying and mitigating this so far despite what the extremists on here say.

That comment there is the exact reason why the delivery sector is one of the worst to work in for pay terms and conditions ,the acceptance by the unions and workers that we are worthless, we are not.

What are you proposing instead to get much better wages and conditions and yet stay competitive?

You have been listening to the rhetoric from Royal Mail and CWU HQ, its always been the case they must deliver letters and parcels under the rules of the privatisation,if that means the parcels keeping letters a float so be it,just because Amazon are making billions doesn't mean every delivery company has too,Royal Mail was the 2nd biggest profit earner in the UK last year and chose to give all that away,why should workers except so little so the elitists can make more money ,it doesn't have to be this way but if you carry on excepting it then that's what you'll get.

The vast majority of the money made in that time actually came from the taxpayer during Covid.
It was mainly a taxpayer funded profit.

Wherever the profit comes from there is profit to be had ,all companies around the world should be reinvesting in the people that make that profit not feeding their bank accounts when they have more money than they could ever spend,as long as we sit back and just accept what they say and do and never question them we will end up with weak unions who are more afraid of their own bank accounts than helping the members who pay their wages,i'll be voting NO as will most posties in our office ,the deal is dead and they know it,branch after branch are now recommending not to accept the deal and i just hope Ward and Furey are planning for plan B or writing their resignation letters.

We have a system of Socialism for the rich and Capitalism for the Workers.

[ANDREW CROCOMBE]

Would accept a 5 day uso/week with weekends off. That way they wouldn't have to cover people's day off, could probably get enough people to deliver parcels 24/7 if they don't go owner driver. Even a 40 hr week would only equal an 8 hour day, with added incentive of weekends away from the place. RM wrongly believe that If we offer the same as rivals, then we'll coin it in - doubtful. If we keep making (as pre COVID) £300 million a year, then IF that's not enough I suggest they pack it in.

[nuisance]

It makes sense for people walking on foot, with a mail bag or two on a trolley, delivering mainly letters and small packets that go though letter boxes or be left in porches to do it during the day when it's quiet. That's for their own convenience and safety, and for practically of getting around and doing the job. Doing it at peak times while the roads and pavements are swarming with public is slow, frustrating and less safe.

This needs to remain in place for the on foot postie, and the company needs to face up to this fact that the people trying to do the job for them are screaming at them. We are not shooting from house to house in vans, couriering is a different job. The refusal to acknowledge this while banging on about what "our competitors do" is pure gas-lighting.

As for evening parcel delivery, why not more availability for doing this as designated shifts? Surely there are enough people past doing all the walking that would take up the less appealing hours in exchange for coming off the walks and just doing parcels? The business could come up with plenty of things like this but all I can see is that they don't want to, they just want to force all the workforce into struggling and suffering more than they do now, it feels illogical unless the goal is something like, "encourage as many people as possible to leave", "wreak the business so the shares are cheaper for someone to buy up", etc.

They really aren't trying to resolve any of their issues with ways in which the workforce's needs can be accommodated. It's really twisted and the only thing that can stop it is if someone runs the business with a view to it thriving in the long term, and with some empathy for it's own staff. As things stand, the future's grim.