Royal Mail`s 5 phase Delivery strategy

Martin Walsh · Post by **Martin Walsh** » 08 Dec 2008, 12:16

Last week Royal Mail revealed their future delivery strategy going forward and its as we alway suspected its about creating a job for 20 hour contracts with some full time jobs which will diminsh over the years. The meeting was held at the union`s hotel the Elstead in Bournemouth and attended by the Divsional Reps , walk design group and SPDO group.

Mick Stockdale the Delivery Royal Mail lead was quite open in the fact they no longer believe they need any further national agreements as Pay and Mod allows them in their view a free hand.

The first phase of their strategy is get everyone into geo route / peagsus as once all staff in the office have walked the walk , the office is on a treadmill to phase 5. Sadly to many offices have agreed to peagsus thinking that they could outwit the planning values. Unfortnately Royal Mail have taken a longer view.

The second phase is to increase the amount of part timers using geo route towards a 50 /50 split as this will reduce the cost per letter in the office.

The third phase is to move the delivery spec to what they consider the optimum. Just last week Dale Lang Royal Mail`s National IR manager wrote to the union saying that Pay and Mod supercedes the SDD agreement and that Royal Mail believe that they could change the spec locally without a national agreement. Sadly some offices in the country are already at this level where others are not even on step 1.

The forth phase is walk squencing which will reduce the cost per unit.

The fifth phase is delivery rationlisation. This will mean the closure of delivery offices with forced mergers. In addition if it is more efficent to do so in their opinion then post code boundries will be breached. For example if its cheaper for someone in one post code to keep walking into an other postcode to finish their walk or a van doing so then thats what would happen.

Before anyone says we should all do our jobs properly and that will save us. Dont be so niave the fact is that Royal Mail have a computer package which measures each offices prep rate , Ips rate , delivery rate. Based on hours at work and should take time. Each offices scores are put in league tables first in the Area General managers area of authority and then in a national league. The Board then awards their budget targets on these stats and areas then target the offices within their area based on these stats.

Its ilrevalant if offices come in before time or work their meal reliefs as the whole purpose of Royal Mail`s agenda is to drive down costs in delivery. Their target is to make sure all offices by phase 5 are on par with the most efficent offices now.

In the past they have fallen down by trying to put part timers into a full time duty . This time they intend to design delivery duties for perdomiately 20 hour contracts and then if you are a 40 hour duty you do extra in doors preping more than one walk. Simlar to the Dutch model.

Face with this threat the union and that means all of us have to create the right enviorment to force Royal Mail into talks and to change their propoasal.

To do this no office anywhere should be agreeing to any further savings and certainly not to peagsus and also if Royal Mail refuse to recognise other national agreements we should withdraw from PAY and Mod and ballot the membership for strike action.

If we allow Royal Mail to get away with their vision for the future then the union and its members are finished.

Is your area will to fight for a better future then what Royal Mail want to give us ??

Pete c · Post by **Pete c** » 08 Dec 2008, 14:14

Neither is mine, hence the reason i cut off all the time. Take note the car users who come into work an hour early every day.

Martin Walsh · Post by **Martin Walsh** » 08 Dec 2008, 17:35

Yes your are probably already at phase 3 of Royal Mail`s delivery strategy.

Spedley · Post by **Spedley** » 08 Dec 2008, 17:47

dingo wrote:Its ilrevalant if offices come in before time or work their meal reliefs as the whole purpose of Royal Mail`s agenda is to drive down costs in delivery. Their target is to make sure all offices by phase 5 are on par with the most efficent offices now.

Not the car users fault apparently. They think they know how long your delivery should take and it doesn't seem to matter if it you finish early or late because they are right.

DGP1 · Post by **DGP1** » 08 Dec 2008, 17:47

I thought we were at Phase 4

I thought Phase 1 was about cutting costs and Phase 2 was about more cost cutting then Phase 3 was about even more cost cutting but Phase 4 was just about saving costs, so I think Phase 5 is about reducing the costs

Somebody please tell me I'm wrong

Post by **dvbuk55** » 08 Dec 2008, 18:30

disgruntledpostie1 wrote:I thought we were at Phase 4
I thought Phase 1 was about cutting costs and Phase 2 was about more cost cutting then Phase 3 was about even more cost cutting but Phase 4 was just about saving costs, so I think Phase 5 is about reducing the costs

Somebody please tell me I'm wrong

OK - you're wrong

The problem is each phase is running one in to the other - we are approaching Phase 4, which I think has already started with park and loop, there must surely be some rationale in this move to part time hours - it seems as though we are racing ahead with modernisation without the modernisation infrastructure of walk sequencers, transport, etc. Leighton once said that RM would give us the tools for the job, we signed up for the way forward and the next thing you know we should press ahead without the tools for the job. Anyone remember that glorious technicolor video with all this new marvellous equipment? - tricycles, electric trolleys, mopeds, bikes with trailers - anyone seen any? No me neither.

Edward Hunter · Post by **Edward Hunter** » 08 Dec 2008, 18:32

I`m just suprised Royal Mail has got a plan. I thought they made it all up as they went along

johnnyp · Post by **johnnyp** » 08 Dec 2008, 18:42

Thanks for that info dingo,not the best bit of news ive heard

with Royal Mail now showing there true agenda and not giving a monkeys for full time employment it looks like we are heading for a massive punch up with the business

I just hope the troops are up for it,i know we will be in London but have our colleagues up and down the country got any fight left in there bellys

God i hope so

or we may be in the brown stuff big time.

vigilante · Post by **vigilante** » 08 Dec 2008, 20:16

johnnyp wrote:Thanks for that info dingo,not the best bit of news ive heard with Royal Mail now showing there true agenda and not giving a monkeys for full time employment it looks like we are heading for a massive punch up with the business I just hope the troops are up for it,i know we will be in London but have our colleagues up and down the country got any fight left in there bellys God i hope so or we may be in the brown stuff big time.

From what i here in my office they are daging to take em on, they are that p____d off with it all!!

bexhil palace · Post by **bexhil palace** » 08 Dec 2008, 20:22

I fear our office is full to the brim with posties with an osterich mentality.
Out of around 70 workers, only a handful recognise the direction the job is going.
At the moment we have been relatively unaffected by the new changes, and as a result
the majority feel that because we are a small office, we are going to be overlooked when it
comes to any major upheaval.
Reading some of the posts regarding the effects the pay and modernisation has had on offices
around the country,i have no doubt there are going to be some very sad faces in our office pretty soon.

Pat Ostman · Post by **Pat Ostman** » 08 Dec 2008, 20:26

bexhil palace wrote:I fear our office is full to the brim with posties with an osterich mentality.

Post by **dvbuk55** » 08 Dec 2008, 20:34

bexhil palace wrote:I fear our office is full to the brim with posties with an osterich mentality.
Out of around 70 workers, only a handful recognise the direction the job is going.
At the moment we have been relatively unaffected by the new changes, and as a result
the majority feel that because we are a small office, we are going to be overlooked when it
comes to any major upheaval.
Reading some of the posts regarding the effects the pay and modernisation has had on offices
around the country,i have no doubt there are going to be some very sad faces in our office pretty soon.

Except they probably won't be in "your" office - I would have thought yours would be a prime target for "rationalisation".

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 09 Dec 2008, 12:19

bexhil palace wrote:I fear our office is full to the brim with posties with an osterich mentality.
Out of around 70 workers, only a handful recognise the direction the job is going.
At the moment we have been relatively unaffected by the new changes, and as a result
the majority feel that because we are a small office, we are going to be overlooked when it
comes to any major upheaval.
Reading some of the posts regarding the effects the pay and modernisation has had on offices
around the country,i have no doubt there are going to be some very sad faces in our office pretty soon.

Small office - lucky you have not been affected but boy when the DO rationalization hits the small DOs are going to disappear.

not me · Post by **not me** » 09 Dec 2008, 13:53

we have already had a small DO merged with ours
(about 14 walks)
now they are being looked at alongw with hours for the 300 hours we are supposed to find on top of a looming georoute

Big Daz · Post by **Big Daz** » 09 Dec 2008, 14:56

bexhil palace wrote:I fear our office is full to the brim with posties with an osterich mentality.
Out of around 70 workers, only a handful recognise the direction the job is going.
At the moment we have been relatively unaffected by the new changes, and as a result
the majority feel that because we are a small office, we are going to be overlooked when it
comes to any major upheaval.
Reading some of the posts regarding the effects the pay and modernisation has had on offices
around the country,i have no doubt there are going to be some very sad faces in our office pretty soon.

Sounds a bit like my D.O were around 70 people but massive housing growth is going on and the next office along from us certainly hasent any room to accomdate us unless RM sell off both D.O' S and build a new Super sized one.