Deliberately failing duties

[fadetogrey63]

1c letters are now becoming an issue as it's virtually impossible to deliver 50+ letters in one day plus 150 Tracked items, it's now down to delivering the 1c's which looks the most important letters i.e. NHS letters, magazines and birthday etc cards.
[/quote]

Yep, and your still expected to do the D2Ds everyday, as you say it's virtually impossible,

[Jpro747]

This has been going on since Thompson was in charge if not longer. Nothing has been done to sort it out and the union/government are powerless or they have an agenda.

[postmanplod2025]

yeah if u think about it the 1st class letters say about 60 of them off two duties is basically 60 drops so 100 odd tracks or so plus 60 letters is more than enough meaning something else has to stay behind

[twoloops]

We are told to deliver all tracked, then start on first class mail to take you to your time, which most of it comes back, indecently we have not delivered any mail out the frames last week, could be 500/600 if not more undelivered non tracked packets in the bottom of the yorks, now covered over with mail bags so not to get mixed up with today's tracked, not to mention the 90 odd national trust magazines left in boxes, I'm off tomorrow, thank god.

[SpacePhoenix]

We are told to deliver all tracked, then start on first class mail to take you to your time, which most of it comes back, indecently we have not delivered any mail out the frames last week, could be 500/600 if not more undelivered non tracked packets in the bottom of the yorks, now covered over with mail bags so not to get mixed up with today's tracked, not to mention the 90 odd national trust magazines left in boxes, I'm off tomorrow, thank god.

Surprised that they worry, as any item can only fail once. Normally priority will be given to the new stuff. Are they many trays of mech, manual letters and flats piled up under the walk frames and under the IPS frames?

[TopperGas]

We are told to deliver all tracked, then start on first class mail to take you to your time, which most of it comes back, indecently we have not delivered any mail out the frames last week, could be 500/600 if not more undelivered non tracked packets in the bottom of the yorks, now covered over with mail bags so not to get mixed up with today's tracked, not to mention the 90 odd national trust magazines left in boxes, I'm off tomorrow, thank god.

Is your DO vastly understaffed,as most of our duties are going out on at least alternative days?

It's shocking really if your a customer who's ordered something from eBay or Vinted etc which has been sent non tracked, as it sounds like it's unlikely to ever be delivered or by the time it is delivered the customer will have already received a refund.

[Mr Rush]

1c letters are now becoming an issue

The ODM trials/pilots/trials revealed this last year, especially after Ofcom announced the changes to second class which prompted plenty of publications to switch to 1C. It's not Tracked, though, so the obvious response (now and when the ODM gets rammed through) will be to ding it in favour of clearing the Tracked.

It's shocking really if your a customer who's ordered something from eBay or Vinted etc which has been sent non tracked, as it sounds like it's unlikely to ever be delivered or by the time it is delivered the customer will have already received a refund.

Which directs more traffic toward Tracked. Across the last ten Christmases people knew their non-Tracked packets stalled somewhere in our network, they just didn't know where: the last mile. That's how we've ended up with 95% of packets in the york, no matter how bloody tiny or materially insignificant, being Tracked.

Have you ever seen a duty that got a bulk posting of Recorded letters? Clearly that renders a duty impossible to clear. Well, imagine Tracked didn't exist and every packet was (functionally) a Special - it's so obviously a stupid idea that would break the job, and yet there we are.

[twoloops]

Is your DO vastly understaffed,as most of our duties are going out on at least alternative days?

I would say no, there is always someone available if someone phones in sick? the walks have just become just too long for the time given, getting out at 10/10:30 am you do not have a chance, this new way of working, we can only just cover tracked, before the overtime ban the rota crew used to clear one side of mail and they were out to 7/8/9 at night, we very really see any manager on the floor, we never discuss or inform our manager what we are taking or bringing back, think he's given up, he just accepts the situation.

[postslippete]

As we are all aware, there is a very strong commercial incentive for RM to normalise failing duties as it reduces the wage bill, saves on overtime costs and builds up evidence that the USO is unworkable so that Ofcom are more likely to approve greater relaxation.

Even though the optimised delivery model (ODM) hasn't been agreed by the CWU; if RM are continuing to work a de facto ODM in practice now, how strong will the Union's bargaining position be when it comes to getting what they want with things like equalising the new entrants pay, terms and conditions??

While RM are obsessed with cost control imho the only forces that will push this company towards the path of equalisation is if there still continues to be recruitment and retention problems as they realise that the loss of experience hurts delivery and that two-tier resentment seriously undermines morale. I've worked with quite a few of the new staff over the last few months and they all say that the job is: physically demanding, chaotic, unpredictable and an overall feeling that the job is not worth the stress for the money that they are being paid.

[funkflex55]

As we are all aware, there is a very strong commercial incentive for RM to normalise failing duties as it reduces the wage bill, saves on overtime costs and builds up evidence that the USO is unworkable so that Ofcom are more likely to approve greater relaxation.

Even though the optimised delivery model (ODM) hasn't been agreed by the CWU; if RM are continuing to work a de facto ODM in practice now, how strong will the Union's bargaining position be when it comes to getting what they want with things like equalising the new entrants pay, terms and conditions??

While RM are obsessed with cost control imho the only forces that will push this company towards the path of equalisation is if there still continues to be recruitment and retention problems as they realise that the loss of experience hurts delivery and that two-tier resentment seriously undermines morale. I've worked with quite a few of the new staff over the last few months and they all say that the job is: physically demanding, chaotic, unpredictable and an overall feeling that the job is not worth the stress for the money that they are being paid.

Absolutely this. I would certainly not do such a physically demanding job for £13.06 whilst working every Sunday, having various shift times and knowing others get significantly more. Plenty of easier jobs out there for the same/similar pay.

[WalkerX]

As we are all aware, there is a very strong commercial incentive for RM to normalise failing duties as it reduces the wage bill, saves on overtime costs and builds up evidence that the USO is unworkable so that Ofcom are more likely to approve greater relaxation.

Even though the optimised delivery model (ODM) hasn't been agreed by the CWU; if RM are continuing to work a de facto ODM in practice now, how strong will the Union's bargaining position be when it comes to getting what they want with things like equalising the new entrants pay, terms and conditions??

While RM are obsessed with cost control imho the only forces that will push this company towards the path of equalisation is if there still continues to be recruitment and retention problems as they realise that the loss of experience hurts delivery and that two-tier resentment seriously undermines morale. I've worked with quite a few of the new staff over the last few months and they all say that the job is: physically demanding, chaotic, unpredictable and an overall feeling that the job is not worth the stress for the money that they are being paid.

Absolutely this. I would certainly not do such a physically demanding job for £13.06 whilst working every Sunday, having various shift times and knowing others get significantly more. Plenty of easier jobs out there for the same/similar pay.

Exactly all of this

[Mr Rush]

I've worked with quite a few of the new staff over the last few months and they all say that the job is: physically demanding, chaotic, unpredictable and an overall feeling that the job is not worth the stress for the money that they are being paid.

Yes, I was thinking about this today. There are perhaps three criteria, any one of which might make someone stick the job:

• good pay
• good conditions
• good feelings from a job well done

Exempting the institutionalised, none of those things are to be found anymore. Pay is rapidly approaching the minimum, job & finish etc is a fading memory, and there is absolutely no dignity in providing a public service on account of it being virtually impossible to do so. Top that off with a spinkle of terrible weather and it's hardly a damned mystery why people leave before you can learn their name. Unless of course you're sitting in the ivory towers monitoring the workforce on your company laptop, then it's completely incomprehensible.

[Jonathan Alsatian]

Most of the people who started around the same time as me , and after me, have left within a few weeks or months for the reasons outlined by the previous 4 posters.

Surely in the long term it would be cheaper for the company to improve pay (if not equalise) for the new contract staff rather than to have to continually recruit new people to replace the ones who leave after a few months. Factoring in the cost of training and uniform but also the fact that new people tend to only become proficient and efficient after getting used to the job. A never ending influx of new starters who leave before they get good enough to do the job fast and efficiently is expensive. Probably more expensive than just paying them properly to try and retain them. I'd imagine the boffins have done the sums on this but knowing RM it wouldn't suprise me if they haven't even considered this.

[norris9]

its no always possible now to get two duties worth of tracks done and 1st class being the 1st class are increasing,if it was all parcels it would be enough

Is that part of the new USO plan? One person goes out and does parcels + 1st class letters for 2 rounds each day? Duties in our office probably average 50-60 parcels a day, so that's achievable. There aren't many 1st Class letters, no more than 30 per round each day.

[SMS1969]

its no always possible now to get two duties worth of tracks done and 1st class being the 1st class are increasing,if it was all parcels it would be enough

Is that part of the new USO plan? One person goes out and does parcels + 1st class letters for 2 rounds each day? Duties in our office probably average 50-60 parcels a day, so that's achievable. There aren't many 1st Class letters, no more than 30 per round each day.

Yes one person does all the tracked, specials,first class, collections and parcel collects on 2 duties. The other 2 duties, everything gets done by two people. The next day flips over, the opposite. This is the failed trial version that they’ll push through, to deliberately fail it and obtain further reductions on the uso, needing less people.