Saturday Feck'n Deliveries

[dolphinsweremonkeys]

Hi all, anybody in agreement that we should join the rest of Europe and put an end to the pain in the ass that is Saturday deliveries? Even the good ol USA will have done away with them once the bill is passed in Congress, expect end of deliveries by September 2010. With the new shared vans being forced in, later start times i.e 8.30 - 10.00 o'clock the weekend will be gone by the time you get home!!!. Slan.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

I would prefer not to work Saturdays but there is the issue of loosing 1 in 6 duties and I am not convinced that the sacrifice is worth it - I am basically on the fence and am willing to be convinced by either side.

[fishtank]

I would prefer not to work Saturdays but there is the issue of loosing 1 in 6 duties and I am not convinced that the sacrifice is worth it - I am basically on the fence and am willing to be convinced by either side.

I'm with you TBT and i would imagine the 1 in 6 would be too.
You also have to realise that the mail on a saturday would not dissappear and would have to be dealt with on the Monday.

[dolphinsweremonkeys]

Hi, if everybody seems to be worried about the loss of 1 in 6 why not have a ballot on it to test the mood in the camp so to speak. I gotta say i think you will find the majority of frontline staff would welcome a 5 day Mon-Fri working week. Go to any D.O in the U.K, have a secret vote away from R.M management and C.W.U intimidation (yes it does go on) and I am a fully paid up member! Although like many of my workmates I am wavering and finding it hard to see who is who since the debacle of 2007.
Firstly, yes the R.M is losing money long term hand over fist, but that is R.M's fault i.e downstream access, final mile bullshit, not ours.

Secondly, delivering mail five days a week, instead of six, is more efficient. The number of delivery points serviced each week is reduced while the volume of mail delivered each day to each delivery point is increased. In addition, mail volumes are declining and will continue to decline. At some point in the future, if we haven't already reached it, posties will be delivering the same amount of mail in five days as they once did in six. Eliminating Saturday delivery would bring workhours and workload into an efficient harmony.

Third, mail delivery would be more consistent and reliable. No need to have a floater fill in once a week. Delivery would be accomplished all five days by the same person. Misdelivered mail would be reduced, if not for the most part eliminated, and mail would be forwarded when it is supposed to be forwarded.

Employee welfare is another reason that this is a good idea. Many posties are currently being forced to work six days a week due to shortages. Many don't want to - they have families and a life outside the post office. Stress mounts as a result. Sick leave increases because posties want or need at least one day off besides Sunday. Family time is diminished. Friction between posties and the management who mandated them to work is increased. Five-day delivery will give many posties their life back. This isn't the nineteenth-century when workers were forced to work 60-80 hours or more a week. This is the twenty-first century. Forty hours and/or five days should be enough. Its right for Royal Mail, its employees and the public. Lets get R.M back to being the best Postal Service in the world, and i really mean that. Lets do something right for a change. Slan.

[fishtank]

"why not have a ballot on it to test the mood in the camp so to speak. I gotta say i think you will find the majority of frontline staff would welcome a 5 day Mon-Fri working week. Go to any D.O in the U.K, have a secret vote away from R.M management and C.W.U intimidation"

That's really nice for a first post mate.
Let's shaft 1 in 6 of our collegues and not have the balls to stand up and tell them to their face.

[dolphinsweremonkeys]

Sorry mate if i have offended you but its not about shafting anybody. I for 1 would be happy to have an open ballot but I'v been in R.M long enough to know the jobs gone to the dogs. Its not like it was back in the day, i.e, the Eighties, we gotta move on and with all the changes coming in with shared vans, later starts, collections added on to walks etc etc all of which will be pushed through whether we like it or not and CWU wont be able to do a thing about it we need to push forward, we need a 5 day Mon/Fri working week. We need to get into new a new working structure, regroup, mobilize and make not only a R.M that is strong but more importantly a Union that is strong, cause at the moment its never been more divided. I'm all for "the power of the worker is in the workforce" but sometimes you gotta take a step back to move forward for the long-term.
Once again, this is my first post on this or any forum, if your pissed at my thoughts on Saturday deliveries then i apoligise.

[POSTMAN]

Can't see Saturdays going,regardless of what WE vote for.

Big mailers don't want it to go.

Will move the post to Blue Shirts.

[feduppostie]

the USO is the only thing that separates us from the rest

and deliveries 6 days a week are part of that

and yes I am bothered if by having a lie in on a saturday it means 1 in 6 jobs will be lost

we need to protect all the jobs we can

[REDLETTER]

I use to have an "easier" Saturday many years ago............now it is the same mail volumes as any other day!
Monday has become Saturday as an easier day, only due to the cuts in collections and cuts in staffing at Mail Centres.

Wonder where this is leading? Are Management pulling a fast one!

[Big Daz]

The political will just does not exist to alter the USO on Saturdays.

What about a skeleton service, do all the tracked items, large packets and special deliveries and sort up mail for Monday.

[SpacePhoenix]

The political will just does not exist to alter the USO on Saturdays.

What about a skeleton service, do all the tracked items, large packets and special deliveries and sort up mail for Monday.

Don't think that would work as MCs would still send out everything to DOs so the DOs would have double of everything else to do on Monday mornings.

[DirtyHarry]

"why not have a ballot on it to test the mood in the camp so to speak. I gotta say i think you will find the majority of frontline staff would welcome a 5 day Mon-Fri working week. Go to any D.O in the U.K, have a secret vote away from R.M management and C.W.U intimidation"

That's really nice for a first post mate.
Let's shaft 1 in 6 of our collegues and not have the balls to stand up and tell them to their face.

I think he has a point, I mean, how many colleagues have gone from the business since 2003, and how many will be got rid of, once walk sequencing commences?
Let's face it, we have been hemmoraging colleagues on an annual basis for 7 years now, and for no benefit whatsoever for the poor sods left to pick up the slack.
I take the same view on removing saturdays from the working week, as Bob Gibson does in relation to Door2Dustbins, and that is, sooner or later, we're just gonna have to grasp this thorny issue with both hands, with, or without, the CWU HQ's support.
I see wildcat/unnofficial strikes in my crystal ball, and plenty of 'em. The CWU has to realise that besides making a messy bed for us to lie in, they're well on the way to making a far more untidy one for themselves.
Public/private ballot, makes no odds to me, so long as the majority prevails on this.
P.S.
There won't even be any need for a cash incentive/bribe, in order to get what would undoubtedly be, a massive YES vote, as the question of whether or not to jettison saturday working, will stand strong on it's own merits.

[Judgee]

Not so long ago there were rumours in our office that all the 5 day duties would become mon-fri walks. Saturdays for those rounds would be covered by spotty saturday kids who would only work that one day a week. This I feel would have been a great compromise, with 6 dayers keeping the 6 days a week work they wanted/needed and the rest getting a normal mon - fri working week. I personally would love to have my weekends back its what I've missed the most Nothing ever came of it though so I guess its been scrapped

[fishtank]

"why not have a ballot on it to test the mood in the camp so to speak. I gotta say i think you will find the majority of frontline staff would welcome a 5 day Mon-Fri working week. Go to any D.O in the U.K, have a secret vote away from R.M management and C.W.U intimidation"

That's really nice for a first post mate.
Let's shaft 1 in 6 of our collegues and not have the balls to stand up and tell them to their face.

I think he has a point, I mean, how many colleagues have gone from the business since 2003, and how many will be got rid of, once walk sequencing commences?
Let's face it, we have been hemmoraging colleagues on an annual basis for 7 years now, and for no benefit whatsoever for the poor sods left to pick up the slack.
I take the same view on removing saturdays from the working week, as Bob Gibson does in relation to Door2Dustbins, and that is, sooner or later, we're just gonna have to grasp this thorny issue with both hands, with, or without, the CWU HQ's support.
I see wildcat/unnofficial strikes in my crystal ball, and plenty of 'em. The CWU has to realise that besides making a messy bed for us to lie in, they're well on the way to making a far more untidy one for themselves.
Public/private ballot, makes no odds to me, so long as the majority prevails on this.
P.S.
There won't even be any need for a cash incentive/bribe, in order to get what would undoubtedly be, a massive YES vote, as the question of whether or not to jettison saturday working, will stand strong on it's own merits.

That may well be the case Harry who knows.
If management or Postcomm decide to end saturday deliveries so be it.
but i won't vote to put someone on the dole for a long weekend.

[taxi4leighton]

i would be for it
if it meant no compulsory redundancies
most offices are under-staffed anyway
im sure with natural wastage and evr, most offices could get there ok
we seem to manage without middle and senior managers
and paid union officials on saturdays