Stoke Royal Mail strike threat after sorting office row

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/ne ... ticle.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

POSTAL workers have voted in favour of industrial action over proposals to transfer work from Stoke-on-Trent to Wolverhampton.

Employees at Royal Mail's sorting office in Leek Road, Stoke, could now go on strike if further negotiations come to nothing.

The Communication Workers' Union (CWU) had launched a ballot after Royal Mail unveiled plans to transfer the office's operations to Wolverhampton, which means about 100 distribution and processing staff could lose their jobs.

Union representatives will now go back to Royal Mail bosses in the hope of resolving the dispute within seven to 10 days, but if negotiations break down, strikes will follow.

CWU Midlands branch secretary Andy Plant, below, said 90 per cent of the Leek Road workers voted in favour of industrial action.

He said: "We couldn't ask anything more from our members. Royal Mail has always said it takes the views of the workforce into consideration and I think our members have delivered a damning message."

Mr Plant said members feel that Royal Mail has refused to negotiate with them since the plans were unveiled last year.

He said: "We're not going to stage industrial action straight away. We're going to give Royal Mail seven to 10 days to come back to us and negotiate an agreement.

"If they don't, we'll be left with no other option than to strike. We want to sit down with them and discuss it, because we've got the same agenda of driving change forward."

Mr Plant said the action would take the form of a series of 24-hour rolling strikes, rather than a prolonged period of action.

He added: "We're talking about people who collect the post and process it, so there could be delays in post being collected."

A spokesman for Royal Mail said: "We are very disappointed with the ballot result. There is a compelling case for change, to automate and transform our mail centre network, and to improve our operational efficiency.

"Strike action will not change this reality.

"The threat to customers of damaging industrial action is completely at odds with the CWU's repeated claim to support modernisation. We urge them to act accordingly and not to call our people out on strike action which can only hurt our customers and damage our drive to build a strong and sustainable future for Royal Mail."

The spokesman said the firm is having to become more efficient in the face of increasing competition and falling mail volumes.

Volumes are falling at a rate of approximately 10 per cent per year, with every one per cent fall costing £70 million annually in lost revenue.

He added: "Industrial action will not modernise Royal Mail, it will disrupt the service to which customers are entitled, lead to an even greater loss of business and leave Royal Mail far less able to protect full-time jobs. We continue to talk with our employees in Stoke and their representatives.

"We have listened to their concerns and worked hard to find solutions. From these discussions we have already increased job opportunities in the Stoke area and reduced the need for staff to travel outside of the area for work."

[trythat]

http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/ne ... ticle.html


Volumes are falling at a rate of approximately 10 per cent per year, with every one per cent fall costing £70 million annually in lost revenue.

I've seen this quote for a few years now, and by reckoning we should be delivering almost half the mail I did say 5 years ago, and that is just not the case! Of course there has been a few different ways of counting the traffic, that might be the reason we're delivering less, I wish I could use the same way of counting for my debts, I'd be rich now if I could.

[andy2007]

The daft thing is, that in some areas, they aren't too far from the truth now. Although, considering that we're in a major recession and credit crunch. It's not really relevant for any long term plans. Because once the Economy picks up, Businesses will recover. So they'll be in a position to send more advertising, and send more parcels out, as the Public start buying more stuff On-line again.

Obviously, I can only speak for my own area. But IMHO, even the areas like mine, are only facing a short term problem.

[rhino49]

The daft thing is, that in some areas, they aren't too far from the truth now. Although, considering that we're in a major recession and credit crunch. It's not really relevant for any long term plans. Because once the Economy picks up, Businesses will recover. So they'll be in a position to send more advertising, and send more parcels out, as the Public start buying more stuff On-line again.

Obviously, I can only speak for my own area. But IMHO, even the areas like mine, are only facing a short term problem.

From my own experience, I would say that many firms are responding to the recession by sending out more advertising and direct mail NOW in the hope of generating business. They all know that the much hyped Internet method usually results in their come ons being filtered out before a customer even sees them, so we remain the most successful and cost efficient means of communication. I don't even look at advertising that comes into my email inbox unless the company is already in my address book from previous transactions that I chose to make, but I do at least open and check any envelopes that come through the letter box.

Whilst online ordering is definitely cutting out mail communication, that is more than covered by the orders that we then deliver and a lot of web based companies have us as their preferred carrier.

Whilst we are talking about Stoke, I was down there on Thursday visiting some friends and was struck by the fact that large tracts of open land are now being developed and the area itself is quite attractive - will all the potential companies that may settle in Stoke be impressed by the fact that their mail both posted and delivered will have to be collected and delivered from Wolverhampton - they might decide to move there instead !!!

Sadly Royal Mails decision to be a business instead of a service means it only cares about it's own needs and customers can look elsewhere if they don't like it. You only take business chances like that when you have a total monopoly - and those days have gone.

Royal Mails panic driven mission to reduce the workforce to fit an imagined catastrophic drop in business will cut their costs in the short term and leave them crippled by a haemorrhage of experience in the longer term. Our management are no help in this situation because they cannot see any further forward than their next reward for saving money.

[Lounge Lizard]

The daft thing is, that in some areas, they aren't too far from the truth now. Although, considering that we're in a major recession and credit crunch. It's not really relevant for any long term plans. Because once the Economy picks up, Businesses will recover. So they'll be in a position to send more advertising, and send more parcels out, as the Public start buying more stuff On-line again.

Obviously, I can only speak for my own area. But IMHO, even the areas like mine, are only facing a short term problem.

From my own experience, I would say that many firms are responding to the recession by sending out more advertising and direct mail NOW in the hope of generating business. They all know that the much hyped Internet method usually results in their come ons being filtered out before a customer even sees them, so we remain the most successful and cost efficient means of communication. I don't even look at advertising that comes into my email inbox unless the company is already in my address book from previous transactions that I chose to make, but I do at least open and check any envelopes that come through the letter box.

Whilst online ordering is definitely cutting out mail communication, that is more than covered by the orders that we then deliver and a lot of web based companies have us as their preferred carrier.

Whilst we are talking about Stoke, I was down there on Thursday visiting some friends and was struck by the fact that large tracts of open land are now being developed and the area itself is quite attractive - will all the potential companies that may settle in Stoke be impressed by the fact that their mail both posted and delivered will have to be collected and delivered from Wolverhampton - they might decide to move there instead !!!

Sadly Royal Mails decision to be a business instead of a service means it only cares about it's own needs and customers can look elsewhere if they don't like it. You only take business chances like that when you have a total monopoly - and those days have gone.

Royal Mails panic driven mission to reduce the workforce to fit an imagined catastrophic drop in business will cut their costs in the short term and leave them crippled by a haemorrhage of experience in the longer term. Our management are no help in this situation because they cannot see any further forward than their next reward for saving money.

If mail volumes are falling at 10% a year it should be a nice little job for anyone still at Royal Mail ten years from now.
and this is the first time I've ever seen the words 'Stoke' and 'quite attractive' in the same sentence

[rhino49]

Haha - beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and I should have added that a lot of the time there was spent on a narrowboat on the Cauldon Canal moored near Westport lake. Despite (or more likely because of) it's industrial heritage Stoke does have a lot of interesting and attractive things to see and I will revisit there if only to meet up again with some of the very kind people I found there.

[Lounge Lizard]

Haha - beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and I should have added that a lot of the time there was spent on a narrowboat on the Cauldon Canal moored near Westport lake. Despite (or more likely because of) it's industrial heritage Stoke does have a lot of interesting and attractive things to see and I will revisit there if only to meet up again with some of the very kind people I found there.

Mention of the canals there reminds me of some friends on a narrow boat holiday some years ago who stopped at a Potteries pub and ordered their drinks only to be asked "what the f---ing hell are you doing here?" only to get a look of disbelief when they replied "on holiday".
Not that I'm suggesting all's bad around there and I must admit to a couple of pleasant sessions in the Coachmakers Arms up Hanley over the last year.