Guess what's next?

[jacee]

From our correspondant on the front line:

At a meeting today of DOM’S and CWU reps from Manchester delivery offices Anton Harding presented a view of delivery structures once new sequencing and sorting machines are installed in a number of local offices. The main thrust of the presentation was as always the requirement of “something for nothingâ€

[Stormproof]

Buddy walks will be introduced using pairs of staff to deliver two walks together from a vehicle. The two walks will in actual fact be two and a half walks and a driving duty combined so there goes a few jobs in any reasonably sized office. It will be like Starburst but with only two points, neither of which will be very bright if they agree to a plot like this. Staff who do not drive or refuse to drive for the company will push carts near the office or will partner willing drivers.

This is happening at my office already, not all the walks yet. The plan is to get rid of the convey vans and have everyone pair up in small vans, no doubt thats going to save a few quid on driving allowances.
Also there was a DOM's meeting here this morning, don't know what that was about yet though.

[k979aaa]

It will never work as firm's are not all in one place or indeed all over the place!. Colletion's all over the place how can one do it on time!. One or two large parcel's and your stuffed!. Not to mention looking after your buddy!. IT DOES NOT ADD UP!. THESE GAFFA'S MUST BE ON DRUG'S!.

[dvbuk55]

Two now - how many in the future? 12 seaters, starburst and team working - and there you have it all those things that RM have always wanted, and we have resisted, in one pay and modernisation agreement - brilliant strategy.

[woofwoof]

more fool your office for not working to rule

[vigilante]

We trialled three of these as part of the savings episode.
Surprise surprise, one failed because one wasn't a driver and the other was doing more, the other two were just too big!!
You can't put a quart in a pint pot and there is nowhere to take savings out of in some offices.

[DirtyHarry]

more fool your office for not working to rule

A work to rule would put paid to crazy management initiatives like this, that's for sure.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

more fool your office for not working to rule

A work to rule would put paid to crazy management initiatives like this, that's for sure.

and I still don't understand why CWU don't support it fully as a form of IA ......

[k979aaa]

Their was an artical in the courier feb edition i think and it was the use of wait for it SMART CAR'S!. Now you would not get me in one of those driveing or being a passenger quite appart form the health and safety of these dredful thing's!. The kid's will take the mick saying here come big ear's and noddy!. And the bigger kid's will be makeing bent wrist gesture's at us all day long!.

[DirtyHarry]

and I still don't understand why CWU don't support it fully as a form of IA ......

Neither do I, teebs...........And especially when you consider the CWU leadership have no idea how to use a very well supported strike to our advantage,
several times now since I've been in the job, have our leaders failed to land the killer punch, we come out of long strikes with management virtually on
the ropes, only to find ourselves worse off than we were before. Another thing, and though it pains me to say this, a great many of our colleagues
seem to lack the stamina necessary to put a lying, duplicitous, dishonest, overbearing management where they ought be, on the back foot, that so
many voted to accept what was clearly a very poor agreement, I just can't get my head around.

[DGP1]

Their was an artical in the courier feb edition i think and it was the use of wait for it SMART CAR'S!. Now you would not get me in one of those driveing or being a passenger quite appart form the health and safety of these dredful thing's!. The kid's will take the mick saying here come big ear's and noddy!. And the bigger kid's will be makeing bent wrist gesture's at us all day long!.

RM will not buy any new vehicles, have you not noticed that the current vans are being kept for longer than they used to, they'll just use the existing fleet until they fall apart

[k979aaa]

Yep on page three!. O look here they black the window's out so the mail can not be seen even though it's got royalmail all over it i wonder how meny new window's we will go through a week! And just enough room for a small cat in the back! and sod all mail!.

[andy2007]

Their was an artical in the courier feb edition i think and it was the use of wait for it SMART CAR'S!. Now you would not get me in one of those driveing or being a passenger quite appart form the health and safety of these dredful thing's!. The kid's will take the mick saying here come big ear's and noddy!. And the bigger kid's will be makeing bent wrist gesture's at us all day long!.

Smart Cars are actually surprisingly safe in an accident, so I don't see what the Health and Safety worry would be. However, where would all the Mail go?
Have you seen how small the boot is on those things?
You'd be lucky to get 2 Mailbags in there (one each). So where would the advantage be, of sending two people out in one?

Unfortunately, I missed that article, and I don't keep old Couriers. But it sounds like a bad PR attempt.

[springheeled boris]

how can any of us complain? until we get rid of the gravy train elite who control our union for their own greed can we be any better off. abbott and costello must go, and rather forcefully indeed, possibilly with the guillotine would be my favourite.

1.5% pay rise when the rate of inflation is more than twice that, petrol now past £1+ a litre, council tax up above inflation, water bills also above inflation, electric and gas bills nearly twice as much from a few years ago and set to rise by 20% again, food bill soaring, ect ect.

the revolution starts at home in our own union, sack the fifth column and the rest of the management buddies in our cwu. let the red cock crow.

[F0zziebear]

I agree with Red Boris about how inflation is outpacing salary increases. This is something that public sector workers get caught up in. National negotiation of salaries are done at such a macro/large scale level that they cannot respond to changes quickly enough. Stamp price rises cannot keep up with inflation and ultimately the frontline workers salary. Management who are in broad banded roles can obtain increases on a more regular basis.

I would personally like to see this approach applied at frontline worker level (no it won't be happening anytime soon). This would allow some flexibility in rewaridng good quality hard working postal workers.

Where I disagree with what has been said it that RM want something for nothing. Any form of mechanisation is going to lead in theory to less work required to be done by a worker who was doing some of that role. How else do you pay for the machinery. This therefore means that the management see spare capacity created because you don't have do as much sorting anymore. Whether this is true or not I don't know as I haven't seen the outcomes of the trials. Therefore your delivery round will get larger. usually a 2 into 3 for example situation.

This approach will continue to happen until one day there might be just people who come in pick up the mail and deliver it, all sorting would either be mechanised or indoor work done byt someone else. I touched on this concept last year and there was plenty of those explaining why this is a bad idea. Well RM have been moving in that direction for some time!

F0zz