Letter to union outlining workers concerns

[first_class_stamp]

I just wrote this letter my the my union rep. I would appreciate any feedback.


Hi *********,

I am writing to you in the hope you can advise me on a few issues I have concern with.

In brief my main concerns are:

1) Does, "The Way Forward" agreement still stand concerning duty allocation?

2) Do Annual Relief Cover employees have any concessions regarding the expected time it takes them to complete a duty?

3) Do part time employees nationally do IPS sorting?

The Way Forward


The "Way Forward" agreement states:



14.6 When the number of consequential vacancies in the resourcing unit reaches 5%, or after a period of six months following the last such exercise (if earlier), the posts will be advertised in the resourcing unit, en bloc and filled on the basis of seniority. If this results in any further vacancies, these will be filled, using the same process as above.


At ****** delivery office there are more than 5% of duties that have never been advertised and those duties have been vacant for far longer than 6 months. I am an Annual Relief postman and would love to have my own duty but as these duties have never been advertised, to the best of my knowledge, then how will I ever change my position?

The duties I refer to off the top of my head are:

(section detailing duties that might identify office and therefore manager removed)

2 rotation cover positions

These duties have people who regularly deliver them but have never been advertised. If the "Way Forward" agreement is still valid can you explain why this is the case and what can be done to correct this injustice?

Annual Relief Cover

As I have already highlighted I hold the position of Annual Relief cover. I find it hard to complete a delivery in the time allocated because I believe a regular postman/woman can prep and deliver a round quicker than I, due to the fact they do exactly the same thing every day, in some cases for the last 10 years. Do the union / management acknowledge that it will take an annual relief cover postperson longer to complete a delivery than a regular postperson? If so what concessions do we get concerning the time allocated to complete a delivery? If this is not an accepted condition, can the union make the case to Royal Mail on our behalf, with the aim of obtaining some time concessions for Annual Relief Cover staff. I ask this because we have a really hard time defending ourselves when we are challenged as to why we don't have enough time to complete our deliveries. Maybe we could do some controlled experiments where a manager would be tested, to see if they could complete a delivery in the same time as a postperson who has done the round for 10 years?

IPS

I hold the position of part time Annual Relief Cover. I have recently been asked to do 30 minutes IPS daily. I just don't have time to prep. deliver, do IPS and finish at my allocated finishing time. Is it national policy for part time employees to do IPS, or is it just part time employees at ****** who are expected to do IPS? If there is no national policy outlining what part time employees duties are, can the union negotiate one on our behalf?

Cutting off

I know I only have to work my contracted hours and I can cut off, but I'm fed up with the confrontation I face week in, week out. It wears you down. I don't think cutting off is an acceptable working practice. I think we need resolution to the points I have raised. On the topic of cutting off can you explain why the responsibility of informing the manager that we wont have time to complete is on the postman? The responsibility of approaching the staff to make sure they will complete their delivery on time should be on the manager. A good manager will know exactly how much overtime will be needed by each individual in order for them to complete on time on any given day, yet if we don't approach them, they refuse to pay us and we are not expected to bring mail back. It should be the other way round.They should approach us before we go out on delivery to make sure we have no concerns. They have a duty of care. I don't like confrontational situations and avoid them as much as possible which results in me working for free. We need to put the responsibility on the manager, that's what they are paid 30k a year for!

Yours sincerely

[first_class_stamp]

Why has nobody posted a reply to my post?

[Wessex]

Completely agree with the cutting off comments. This needs to be absolutely clear so that postie and manager know where they stand, particularly because of the risk of bullying and also the risk of disciplinary action.

[George door to dawes]

seems like a good letter i wonder if you will get a reply though? Our area rep is as slippery as a RM DOM when it comes to getting anything down on paper. Any issues ive emailed about in the past he has just phoned me or come to see me during the day! good luck with your request though.

[post_bitch]

u mug

if it wasnt for confrontation , cutting off situations work place problems in general

then why would we need the cwu

they love the problems it gets them subs

your letter will be promptly binned

[first_class_stamp]

not had a reply yet

[first_class_stamp]

our union is totally useless

[enzio]

not had a reply yet

not saying it right but think why no one has replyed is because most things now are done on a local level now as in years gone by most of the rules were done on a national level so we all had the same rules hate to say it but bring back the old days

[first_class_stamp]

Very true. That's a point I'm making. We need national standards and working practices so that we all know were we stand. They want to divide and conquer it's in their favor to split us up into small local units, making it up as they go along, and we let them. It's about time we had some organization and real leadership guiding us through these times of change.

[banner18]

Some really good points in your letter, especially the cutting off procedure.
I have never worked for a company, where you have to go begging to a manager that you don't want to go over your time. What kind of crap is that?
We still have all the responsibilities of a top government service industry, but none of the perks. In the past, cutting off was rare, because posties had it so good, no-one complained going over once in a while. Now this culture is over with, but the chains of responsibility are still wrapped around us. The cutting off procedure causes confrontation by it's nature. Clocking in/out machines are the solution to this.

[jack]

Managers know the score regarding unmanageable workloads and reserves p/timers,half the time they just don't want the hassle of finding someone to do it on docket - thats if they can find someone to do it on docket, otherwise they probably have to do it themselves.

Im afraid there's a culture of " use and abuse " off managers in many offices. If the office was failing to clear on a daily basis they would be in the shite. Psychological abuse comes in when a postie informs management he/she only want to work their contracted hours, the managers will try every trick in the book to get you to complete, christ knows what kind of bonus's managers/ Doms get inflicting this crap on people.

On the other hand though some posties do make time and management are fully aware of it but do nothing.

As far as the union is concerned - i once contacted my area branch rep due to issues with management regarding working contracted hours, they did say they would send someone down .......i'm still waiting 3 yrs later!!!

[Bernardson]

IPS

The amount of IPS in your office is determined by the office needs only a certain amount of hours can be set against this task, it may be that your duty does incorperate some IPS.
The part timers in our office do some IPS but as they start later it is just on the second wave.
You may have missed the major issue of why that there is more part time duties in the buisness that of falling traffic levels (allegedley) and mech sorting meaning less full time people needed on the job.

[jack]

IPS

The amount of IPS in your office is determined by the office needs only a certain amount of hours can be set against this task, it may be that your duty does incorperate some IPS.
The part timers in our office do some IPS but as they start later it is just on the second wave.
You may have missed the major issue of why that there is more part time duties in the buisness that of falling traffic levels (allegedley) and mech sorting meaning less full time people needed on the job.

I can't understand how part timers are made to do IPS, ok at a push 35 hr contract or ultra light day but anything less i can't see it.

For example 30 hr contract 7.00 am start, 2 hrs throw in and prep, kill offs re - directions would take you to 9.00am.
15 minutes travelling to first delivery point 9.15, somewhere inbetween 30 minute meal relief. 3.5 hour delivery would take you to 13.15 - travel time back 15 minutes - over by 10 minutes.

And if your a reserve on a blind walk you could probably add an hour to that!!

[Lovemoney]

Managers know the score regarding unmanageable workloads and reserves p/timers,half the time they just don't want the hassle of finding someone to do it on docket - thats if they can find someone to do it on docket, otherwise they probably have to do it themselves.

Im afraid there's a culture of " use and abuse " off managers in many offices. If the office was failing to clear on a daily basis they would be in the shite. Psychological abuse comes in when a postie informs management he/she only want to work their contracted hours, the managers will try every trick in the book to get you to complete, christ knows what kind of bonus's managers/ Doms get inflicting this crap on people.

On the other hand though some posties do make time and management are fully aware of it but do nothing.

As far as the union is concerned - i once contacted my area branch rep due to issues with management regarding working contracted hours, they did say they would send someone down .......i'm still waiting 3 yrs later!!!

WELL SAID

[first_class_stamp]

IPS



For example 30 hr contract 7.00 am start, 2 hrs throw in and prep, kill offs re - directions would take you to 9.00am.
15 minutes travelling to first delivery point 9.15, somewhere inbetween 30 minute meal relief. 3.5 hour delivery would take you to 13.15 - travel time back 15 minutes - over by 10 minutes.

And if your a reserve on a blind walk you could probably add an hour to that!!

None of the duties in our office are 3 1/2 hours delivery. Are they still meant to be 3 1/2 hours? The deliveries in our office ranger between 4 and 4 1/2 hours i think at a push maybe there might be three duties that are close to 3 1/2 hours on a light day. Can we get the duties timed? I really would like to get the duties in our office timed.