park and loop trial

[twobags]

hi ihave been trialing the park and loop scheme for our office over the past few weeks ,I was and am a fan of the system BUT!! ,i am not a fan of the workload that goes with it ,in three weeks we have failed almost every day to get back within time light or heavy, but on with the change they go assisted by our cwu rep. there is just to much to complete within the time frame,specials, trackers ,recordeds, packets and o/s packets 4/5 door to doors and mail, of the loops we do some are so heavy that we have to jog round to get any where near the timings, i like hard work but this is slave labour,4+ hours of hard slog and intensity ive never had in any previous trades ive had ,there are plenty of people that wont cope at my office and will regularly go over, yet they give no advice on o/t payments which would be plenty on this system as the odd easy day you got will be no more EVERY DAY WILL BE A 4 HOUR+ DELIVERY DAY IF YOU TAKE YOUR LUNCH BREAK OR NOT we havnt once yet.these changes offer little to both customer and postie a like,MY ADVICE IS GET TO THE GYM AND LEARN TO RUN.i have sweat cobs over the last few weeks and its not even summer yet with the new time changes let alone the workload of autumn and xmas thatll be the biggest fail in history me thinks

[BT2010]

hi ihave been trialing the park and loop scheme for our office over the past few weeks ,I was and am a fan of the system BUT!! ,i am not a fan of the workload that goes with it ,in three weeks we have failed almost every day to get back within time light or heavy, but on with the change they go assisted by our cwu rep. there is just to much to complete within the time frame,specials, trackers ,recordeds, packets and o/s packets 4/5 door to doors and mail, of the loops we do some are so heavy that we have to jog round to get any where near the timings, i like hard work but this is slave labour,4+ hours of hard slog and intensity ive never had in any previous trades ive had ,there are plenty of people that wont cope at my office and will regularly go over, yet they give no advice on o/t payments which would be plenty on this system as the odd easy day you got will be no more EVERY DAY WILL BE A 4 HOUR+ DELIVERY DAY IF YOU TAKE YOUR LUNCH BREAK OR NOT we havnt once yet.these changes offer little to both customer and postie a like,MY ADVICE IS GET TO THE GYM AND LEARN TO RUN.i have sweat cobs over the last few weeks and its not even summer yet with the new time changes let alone the workload of autumn and xmas thatll be the biggest fail in history me thinks

if you are trialing P&L surely you should do the job properly, including meal relief and walking speeds?

[Royal_Fail]

Why the hell are you running round?

Has your DOM offfered you shares if you make it work?

[Hitcher]

hi ihave been trialing the park and loop scheme for our office over the past few weeks ,I was and am a fan of the system BUT!! ,i am not a fan of the workload that goes with it ,in three weeks we have failed almost every day to get back within time light or heavy, but on with the change they go assisted by our cwu rep. there is just to much to complete within the time frame,specials, trackers ,recordeds, packets and o/s packets 4/5 door to doors and mail, of the loops we do some are so heavy that we have to jog round to get any where near the timings, i like hard work but this is slave labour,4+ hours of hard slog and intensity ive never had in any previous trades ive had ,there are plenty of people that wont cope at my office and will regularly go over, yet they give no advice on o/t payments which would be plenty on this system as the odd easy day you got will be no more EVERY DAY WILL BE A 4 HOUR+ DELIVERY DAY IF YOU TAKE YOUR LUNCH BREAK OR NOT we havnt once yet.these changes offer little to both customer and postie a like,MY ADVICE IS GET TO THE GYM AND LEARN TO RUN.i have sweat cobs over the last few weeks and its not even summer yet with the new time changes let alone the workload of autumn and xmas thatll be the biggest fail in history me thinks

if you are trialing P&L surely you should do the job properly, including meal relief and walking speeds?

Exactly. Why on earth are you running around and not taking your entitled meal relief on a trail?

[fishtank]

Run,Forrest run....
Knock yourself out...Royal Mail will be proud of you.

[jockstrapp]

1....Why are you running?

2....Why no meal break?

3....No mention of using trolley (weight of shoulder).

4....Work to your time.

5....Let management worry about completing.

[Dorset Plodder]

Crikey Twobags you must have known you'd get some stick posting that?
Most points already covered, not sure how experienced you are but the trial period is the ideal opportunity to do the job PROPERLY it will generate the correct levels of work/timings. If you take 2 hours longer than you should do then the duty's too big. Not your problem mate. If all your duties are too big it means they'll have to make more duties and that equals more jobs. That's the problem we've got, RM won't bring in the Revisions we've agree would work because there's not enough savings for them.

[twobags]

i think you all miss the point , big time ,this system is coming in like it or not ,the jogging started after a few days with the knowledge of both managers and cwu rep.to prove that the timings were wrong it meant that in any discussion no one could cast any doubt on the attempts made ,if walked and meal reliefs taken there would have been the usual questions of doubt and intent by us to make it fail , what we did left no question of doubt as to the timings and workload. i soon became aware that what we were doing was pointless and were basically going thru the motions to tick a box as done. the person i shared this trial with was the official tester so called mr average,i was chosen because i am a plodder not fast or slow.The worst thing for me is that our cwu rep and manager are both pushing this thru ignoring the facts... i am some what dissapointed in the responses so far as there has been nothing constructive said only the bleedin obvious . most of the posties in our office that im aware of very rarely take their meal breaks now some i think thru choice others because they dont have the time even in the current system employed.the same as the unpaid overtime they have to do, except in the new system more would have to. and before any one makes a stupid comment last year 5.2 million people worked an average of 7 hrs unpaid overtime per week a record 28.9 billion to the economy.so it aint just posties sufferin ,but i do wonder if like ours its down to our union afterall the cwu agree these timings we often fail. thats all we get thrown back in our faces .oh and as for the shares comment havent you heard they are worth nothing another stitch up!!! AND TO PROVE THE POINT OF THE TRIAL I SUGGEST THAT A RECORD OF WHAT WAS DONE WAS TAKEN NOT THE USUAL TIME OUT TO TIME IN, I LOGGED WHAT MAIL WE GOT EACH DAY ALONG WITH PKTS, R/D, SP, AND TRACKERS, ALL BROKEN DOWN INTO LOOPS,, TIME STARTED/TAKEN, NOT JUST OF THE DAY BUT OF EACH LOOP AND OF CHANGE OVERS ,PARKING ETC.........FINISH TIME WITH MEAL RELIEF ADDED IN. WHICH LIKE I SAY ONLY PROVED TO ME THAT WE WERE JUST GOING THRU THE MOTIONS,TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE IT WAS DONE

[Dorset Plodder]

Sounds like you're trying your best to accurately test these duties twobags, but there's non so deaf as those that refuse to hear!

If your DIM and Rep are still pushing these over-sized duties through it sounds like you're trying to piss up a rope!
I can see what you were trying to do by jogging it and not taking your breaks but it unfortunately hasn't made any impression on your DIM. TBH I wouldn't have tried THAT hard!

It's hard to be constructive when what you've told us goes against all the advice that has previously been pushed on this site, however it does sound as if you've got a BIG problem in your office if you've already got so many Posties working UNPAID overtime and not taking their breaks. Are they FT or PT ? We've previously discussed the pressure many PTers feel themselves under not to "rock the boat", but if they're FT they're basically "Fire-Proof" as far as their contracted hours are.

To be constructive I would suggest that if these Revisions manage to get pushed through then just work PROPERLY take your breaks and inform your DIM you won't be able to complete, and on no condition work for nothing! If your DIM OKs the OT, and you're happy to work it then that's your business. Hopefully if enough of your colleagues see you finishing on time, without being totally knackered and getting paid for any extra you do, then maybe they'll follow your example. Good Luck.

[twobags]

thanks dorset plodder i realised we were going thru the motions based on the responses to the results from both the d/m and the cwu rep ,with the d/m saying it was going ahead no matter what. also youve hit the nail on the head as far as p/t and f/t, we have a high turnover of staff all p/t .the union rep seems far more concerned with f/t, the p/t get the crap. as for o/t payments they are frowned upon in relation to your own duty, but ok for covering other duties even sometimes sorting but thats a face fits jobby.as for the trial round it was initially for two week period its now been 6 and i have to put up with it as i have been informed it is to stay like it until the resigns. i will keep you posted

[slave]

Keep us posted, but in the mean time,for everyones sake - do the job properly, don't jog, take your breaks etc.....

It's this kind of mentality that is dropping everyone else in the s**t, oh such an such an office can manage such and such (that office is probably full of runners)

[twobags]

the trial part was over over a week ago .so please stop harping on about the jogging which happened on some loops on some days to help best confirm the timmings were out,the results of the trial ranged from 5.5 to 4 hrs per day any early finishes was a result of pkts more than mail or the lack of,jogged or walked it failed,breaks or no breaks it failed, but its still going ahead because the test was a pointless exercise in labour relations it will be pushed thru no matter what.our packets ranged from 39 to 86 per day in the 1st week 20 to 25 sign fors per day not including trackers some loops had 13/ 15 addresses that you had to knock a door for,even allowing 2min per door thats 26 to 30 mins alone in a loop that lasts 40 mins with maybe 90 to 120 delivery points thats where it fails the most.there are lots of other failings in the system as well, ive had to work with 40 30 20 hr contracted posties you can guess who wanted the tea break. plus there are two people to a duty who work differently with different agendas to their day with very different wage packets , this is a self inflicted situation ,i personally will only work to my contracted hours the cwu are the people that need to sort this out ,and start representing every one in the delivery offices to unite a splintered workforce.PLEASE ALSO NOTE THE PERIOD THESE TESTS WERE CARRIED OUT THERE WERE ONLY 3 OF 12 DAYS THAT WERE HEAVY THE REST WERE MEDIUM TO LIGHT.

[twobags]

hi as i said before i am stuck with the park and loop duty till the re sign which is probably another 6 weeks away i have been informed,while every one else carries on as normal, apperently the figures they have put in were wrong and they have to start all over again and the office has to lose another 300+ hours [jokers]. but while this is being sorted for the forseeable future i will have no ips ,specials ,trackers or oversize packets bargain i thought though i did want the rounds reverted back to normal.gotta say still crap... the first 2 days were really light 10 mech bundles for the 2 duties that is well less than half normal mech lightest ive ever seen it [made up for it today though].also my driver this week is speedy gonzalez full of beans and very naive, ive struggled to cope but he is in his late 20s almost half my age. but still taken about 4 hours for each of the 1st 2 days, but by yesterday towards the last pair of loops he was complaining a little that he was feeling it and his last loop took him 45 min. he was very quiet today and alot slower almost unrecognisable to monday mornin . i felt for him a bit, i got the impression for the 1st 2 days he was competing, he is one of the managers pets, on a 20hr contract, yet last week worked 50+.He was so naive that he had agreed to doing an extra half a round after this one every day .that lasted one day.today was a 5+ hr day delivering,im wondering if hes going to be in tomorrow. p s the reason for no ips is mail is still coming in as normal and not in sync

[twobags]

1....Why are you running? please read later response on that, it was done for a result and worked. it was not a regular thing especially at my age

2....Why no meal break? ,as i said very few get their meal relief if any at the moment, we put the relief time into the duty time log results.

3....No mention of using trolley (weight of shoulder). park and loop is a trolley duty only no carrying at all they slow you down but are beneficial , security is a worry.

4....Work to your time. would love to but at our depot we get little or no protection from our rep, once when i asked him about cutting off he advised me not to and was very negative about it, later also said that he could only act once you were suspended.

5....Let management worry about completing.

would love to but they dont give a s##t every office seems to be different with it all i can say is the quality of management ive come across so far is weak and poor and the union rep is no better,

[twobags]

Keep us posted, but in the mean time,for everyones sake - do the job properly, don't jog, take your breaks etc.....

It's this kind of mentality that is dropping everyone else in the s**t, oh such an such an office can manage such and such (that office is probably full of runners)

read the responses, our office is an elderly office not full of runners at all , we have a high turn over of staff youngsters dont tend to stay its to tough and 20hrs pay aint all that .as for the mentality everything that has been put in has varified the system wont work and will fail were they could not cast any shadow of doubt ,in our office for this to work they would have to restructure the rounds and put in more duties.