Post in the Media

[Big Daz]

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17th December 2009

The state of Royal Mail and UK postal services have been focused in the media this week, raising issues of walk speeds, industrial relations and modernisation.

On Monday BBC One's Panorama programme explored issues inside the company, looking at mail volumes, working practices and industrial relation. The programme followed a delivery worker on his round in Newcastle and got an ex-marine to cover the round to the Pegasus prescribed 4 miles an hour specification. He was six minutes over time and as a current fitness instructor said he thought is was too demanding for a daily undertaking.

Watch the programme on BBC iPlayer here:

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BBC Radio 4 has serialised Roy Mayall's short book 'Dear Granny Smith: A letter from your Postman' each day this week as its Book of the Week. The anonymous writer shot to fame during the postal dispute when he had an essay published in the London Review of Books and this is an extended version of his thoughts on life as a postal worker.

You can listen to it on BBC iPlayer here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qftk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Billy Hayes will be discussing the issues raised in the book on Radio 4's You and Yours programme between 12 and 1pm on Friday 18th December.

Voice journalist Karl Stewart reviews the book here:

So, who is "Roy Mayall?"
Well, sorry to disappoint readers, but here at Voice HQ we've got no idea either, although we've been asked many times.

And perhaps that's just as well, given his scathing indictment of Royal Mail's current leadership, his tales of bullying delivery bosses, the loss of the public-service ethos and of how he feels the job has changed - for the worse - over the 30 years he has worked for the
company.

Roy begins with a "day in the life" back in 1979, telling us that back then, Postman Higher Grades ruled the roost in the workplace, his own PHG - a veteran called Bill - coming across as part chargehand and part sergeant -major.

"Bill was kind, stern and funny all at the same time," recalls our author, "and he'd call me into the office for a ticking-off whenever I made a mistake - which was often - but when he'd finished he'd say: 'We'll make a postman of you yet'.

"He wasn't management, he'd came up through the ranks and he had more authority than any of us - but the PHG no longer exists and there's no discipline any more and nothing left to aspire to," Roy explains.

Bemoaning the passing of this highly respected figure, we are then presented with the sharp contrast of today's "young managers of no more than a few months experience overriding old posties of over 30 years service" and told a tale of how one such bright spark ordered staff not to leave their mail bags under their frames anymore for apparent "health and safety" reasons.

Roy amusingly recalls his bemused colleagues complaining to each other afterwards: "But we've always left them there and we've not tripped over them once - how can we? They're under the frame for God's sake," before, inevitably, informing us that after a week of confusion, this particular "modernisation" edict was quietly forgotten.

Later starts, later deliveries and a gradually worsening service are our author's experience of the current management's version of "modernisation," which, if unchanged, could herald the "destruction of an ancient and venerable organisation, much loved by everyone who uses it."

But, Roy insists: "It is not too late to save it, but it needs people to run it who care about it.

"Most of all, it needs a management who will listen to its workers and its customers."

Dear Granny Smith - A Letter From Your Postman, By Roy Mayall £4.99 from Short Books

[POSTMAN]

And perhaps that's just as well, given his scathing indictment of Royal Mail's current leadership, his tales of bullying delivery bosses, the loss of the public-service ethos and of how he feels the job has changed - for the worse - over the 30 years he has worked for the
company.

Why,wouldn't you defend him if he got in trouble for it then?

[fishtank]

And perhaps that's just as well, given his scathing indictment of Royal Mail's current leadership, his tales of bullying delivery bosses, the loss of the public-service ethos and of how he feels the job has changed - for the worse - over the 30 years he has worked for the
company.

Why,wouldn't you defend him if he got in trouble for it then?

"Later starts, later deliveries and a gradually worsening service are our author's experience of the current management's version of "modernisation," which, if unchanged, could herald the "destruction of an ancient and venerable organisation, much loved by everyone who uses it.""

Well they can't/won't defend us from this.

[norbert]

And perhaps that's just as well, given his scathing indictment of Royal Mail's current leadership, his tales of bullying delivery bosses, the loss of the public-service ethos and of how he feels the job has changed - for the worse - over the 30 years he has worked for the
company.

Why,wouldn't you defend him if he got in trouble for it then?

"Later starts, later deliveries and a gradually worsening service are our author's experience of the current management's version of "modernisation," which, if unchanged, could herald the "destruction of an ancient and venerable organisation, much loved by everyone who uses it.""

Well they can't/won't defend us from this.

No wonder Billy was waffling and starting to repeat himself - they're scared of losing too many members & getting derecognised as they are with some Telecoms firms - Worst Case Scenarios and are waiting for Cameron to do his worst . I think there's a Alan Johnson BT members scenario ? after Tebbit privatised it

To keep their muscle up the only thing they could do is a another amalgamation ? OR be in a amalgamation - UNITE ? - the other problem that some unions have had is that they've been arguably forced to poach members off other unions .

Some ex BT staff are non too complimentary about Johnson . If you want to be gloomy , the most the CWU HQ can do is get good redundancy terms .

I don't think that Powerpoint RM leak was done out of the goodness out of someone's heart - I think it was deliberately done to put the CWU on the immediate defensive . It back fired in a way as RM came out as underhand and none of their Senior Managers / Board have come over well in the media full stop .

It sounds if there's splits on the RM board and the arse doesn't know what the elbow is doing - quell surprise .

Sorry if this sounds gloomy . Sorry Roy but you won't get people to care as New Labour don't do service ethos , somebody will provide or deliver ( in the very loosest sense ) something but it doesn't matter or mean if / it's any good . They work on the Neo - Liberal basis that people can only be motivated by money and bonuses - sod the customer !

Executive Managers like Nationalisation / The Public Sector only as long as the State takes the risk and they get paid the same as the private sector - they're just waiting for the next opportunity / something to cock up .