Millions will have to wait until 4pm for post

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... -post.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Millions of householders will have to wait until 4pm to receive their mail under a controversial new contract for postmen.

Under the terms of a new three year Royal Mail pay deal, which has been criticised for allowing postmen to get paid more for working less, letters and parcels will be delivered one hour later - 3pm in towns and cities and 4pm in the countryside.

Currently, the latest the post should be delivered is 2pm in towns and cities, and 3pm in rural areas.

The new, even later deliveries were criticised by politicians and campaigners last night, with some suggesting that "the householder and the small businessman working from home is paying the price of this peace deal".

The 80 page "national agreement" between the Royal Mail and the unions also allows for tens of thousands of postmen to start work an hour later at 7am, to ensure that postmen are not working any extra hours to complete their rounds.

Separately, householders could also be deluged by a blizzard of junk mail after the two sides agreed plans to expand the amount of junk mail which postmen can deliver.

Last night close to the Communication Workers Union claimed its officials had opposed the change to the delivery times during the two month negotiation which resulted in the agreement, but insisted that Royal Mail bosses had forced them through the negotiations.

A CWU spokesman said: ”We don’t believe this will improve the service. The CWU would like to see a business service that guarantees mail arrive before 12 o’clock.”

The changes are likely to come into force from the middle of next month after they have been rubber-stamped by a ballot of 121,000 CWU members.

Campaigners and politicians criticised Royal Mail and the CWU for the later delivery times, insisting that small firms particularly would suffer as a result.
Stephen Alambritis, spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses, said that delivering mail is a “day lost because there is very little time to act on requests, invoices or payments. This is just not good enough.

"It looks like the householder and the small businessman working from home is paying the price of this peace deal."

Jonathan Djanogly, the Conservatives' business spokesman, said: "I am very concerned to see that the terms of the agreement provide for mail to be delivered up to an hour later.

"This could have a very serious impact on small businesses, and I would have thought that such a proposal should be consulted on."

Nigel Woods, postal expert at the watchdog Consumer Focus, said there should be an investigation to see if small firms will be badly affected.

He said: “While later last deliveries will make little difference to people who are out all day, it will impact on customers who rely on timely deliveries such as small businesses.

“The regulator must take a good look at how these changes will affect all Royal Mail’s customers before making a decision on a change of delivery times.”
The Government’s own rural watchdog the Commission for Rural Communities also expressed concerns that later deliveries could damage small firms. A spokesman said: “Later postal deliveries in rural areas would not be helpful to rural businesses.

“We are already aware of concerns about current delivery times in rural areas, making it difficult for businesses to process orders received by post, for example.

"It would be helpful to know if any changes to delivery arrangements would be balanced by improvements to other parts of the service such as better reliability of delivery.”

Royal Mail pointed out that the agreement with the CWU also stated clearly that the vast majority of letters and parcels were completed by 2.30 in the afternoon.

Later delivery times were necessary because some remote addresses were miles from their nearest mail centre, a company source said.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "Under the agreement with the CWU - which was backed unanimously by the CWU leadership - the overwhelming majority of people will continue to get their mail delivered by 2pm, as happens at present."

A Department for Business spokesman said: "The timings of deliveries are for Royal Mail to decide, but the agreement sets out that the vast majority of deliveries will be completed at around the same time as they are currently."

[jessicarabbit]

Rubber Stamped !!!!!!!!!!! What planet are these reporters from. So now its our fault because we want an extra hour in bed. Personally I'd love to go back to 4AM starts home by 11 still some time left to do stuff. I can see the headline now. 'Lazy posties reject inflation busting deal because they can't have their lie in'

[Thunderthighs]

Ok, only been in the Job for about 5 yrs, so...What's these other places - cities, regions, countries etc - that get their post around 12 noon?
This is suggested by the report above ( CWU Spokesman ) SO...Who does it, how is it possible, what system do they use? How big is their company?

If it doesn't exist, then how are we supposed to be able to match it in any way, shape or form? It seems like a "Fantasy League" postal service to me!

Starting earlier seems to be part of the answer, BUT...It can't be the ONLY answer.

If the proposed 25 - 40,000 postal workers go, we'll be delivering til Midnight!

[Lounge Lizard]

The problem is that the public actually believes what it reads in the first few sentances of such an article

"The 80 page "national agreement" between the Royal Mail and the unions also allows for tens of thousands of postmen to start work an hour later at 7am" - yes, so we can have an extra hour in bed as we're lazy so and sos don't like getting up in the morning

"Separately, householders could also be deluged by a blizzard of junk mail after the two sides agreed plans to expand the amount of junk mail which postmen can deliver." - can deliver, yes, if they'll let us !

"The changes are likely to come into force from the middle of next month after they have been rubber-stamped by a ballot of 121,000 CWU members." - as if none of us could possibly object to such a deal !

And all this isn't even the Daily Mail !

[noggin1969]

rubber-stamped by a ballot of 121,000 CWU members.

Think RM & CWU PEC may be in for a rude awakening

[Abelia]

With the proposed closure of more sorting offices there will be more than a few addresses miles away from them and therefore more people getting there post later than ever. Also what about the postie who has to travel the extra distance before they can even deliver their first mail, and the recipient who also has to travel furthur to collect any undeliverable items? I don't think Royal Mail is very concerned what time the mail is delivered as long as they can boast 1st class post is delivered the following day.

[stokes11eg]

I am seriously thinking of printing out my own explanatory leaflet, and deliver them to my own customers, in my own time of course. Letting them knowabout the truth of this agreement.