IF YOU TOLERATE THIS...

[fishtank]

How my fear is Royal Mail at senior level will only look at the bottom line and of course at £6.50 per hour with no payment to any agency well they would have saved a mint.

I think you're right.
I think if they get through Christmas and the job is done with a lower cost to business than last year rather than recriminations and apologies it will be back-slapping and congratulations.
I think that is the nature of the animal we are now all dealing with.
I also feel that HQ has missed an opportunity to lay down a marker and publicly ridicule Royal Mail's abysmal attempt to run it's own casual resourcing pool.
I think that may come back to haunt us.

[baldrick]

I think most of us who work with the Xmas temps do have a lot of sympathy for them. We know they are being treated really badly - even worse than us. A lot of them are friends or relatives of permanent staff. But I don't know what we can actually do about it. I have in the past told young relatives or children of friends (usually students) to apply for Xmas jobs at RM. But I didn't this year And I'm really glad now that I didn't because of the shambles with Angard.
I usually suggest to posters who come on this site asking about Xmas jobs with RM to look elsewhere. Most employers take on extra staff over the Xmas period. But of course with increasing unemployment people will try to get any jobs on offer, especially when they do not lnow what it's like in RM now.
John Duncan, RM, and Angard should be ashamed of the way they have treated these people, but of course they won't be. They will put the shambles down to teething problems, computer failures, etc affecting 'a minority'.
This is the reality of life today in Royal Mail.

[Stormproof]

Because many members of RMC have failed to show unconditional support to the poor b*****s 'employed' by Angard, who are working alongside us over the Christmas period.

I'm sorry but there is not much more for us to add to that has'nt already been said in many threads on this forum. We are all disgusted at the way Angard staff have been treated, but there is'nt much more we can do apart from show them empathy. Agreed that something should of been done from the start, but we as OPG's did'nt know that they were going to be s**t on big time. There is nothing we can do without CWU HQ say so.

[Lincox]

It would be a feather in the unions cap if they could provide immediate temporary cover for all casuals, whether it,s at christmas or any time, to give them at least a minimum service against the sort of problems they face on joining this company, and a taster of what being a union member involves. Speculate to accumulate as far as future recruitment is concerned.

[dvbuk55]

Read small snipprt in our local paper that 6 convicted criminals were employed through this agency---

Some would be unkind and say you get what you pay for.

[stokes11eg]

Read small snipprt in our local paper that 6 convicted criminals were employed through this agency---

Some would be unkind and say you get what you pay for.

Or nor paid for!

[dvbuk55]

Read small snipprt in our local paper that 6 convicted criminals were employed through this agency---

Some would be unkind and say you get what you pay for.

Or nor paid for!

Well it is a reflection of the times, they can get away with it because they know that people are desperate for work. For the minimum wage you aren't going to get a dedicated work force and nobody from the agency is going to look too carefully at people prepared to work for that sort of money. As for RM checking the background, presumably they leave that up to their "agency" staff so that RM aren't culpable.

[DirtyHarry]

Sorry mate, but this is not a part-time job.
I see part-timers as being a symptom of the malaise afflicting the full-time workforce, and as such, they should be eradicated.

[dvbuk55]

Sorry mate, but this is not a part-time job.
I see part-timers as being a symptom of the malaise afflicting the full-time workforce, and as such, they should be eradicated.

Sorry DH, I may be my failing mind but I'm not sure I understand the post. I assume that agency staff are paid for the hours they do regardless of whatever they are. Certainly agency staff have never been allowed on delivery in my office barring a single unpleasant experience years ago. It is assumed that the delivery officers without anyone on leave will manage to cope and by and large, given fair weather, we do.

Agency staff and part time staff are totally different in my experience, limited though that is. Part timers have been recruited for at least the last five years in our office and will never have a full time contract in the foreseeable future. Most have families, many have second jobs and RM is not, like for most of us the primary income provider. Royal Mail have been allowed to denigrate the contracts without prejudice and that is not fault of the employee.

[Straight4ward]

Guevarista, welcome to the cause.

[DirtyHarry]

Sorry mate, but this is not a part-time job.
I see part-timers as being a symptom of the malaise afflicting the full-time workforce, and as such, they should be eradicated.

Sorry DH, I may be my failing mind but I'm not sure I understand the post. I assume that agency staff are paid for the hours they do regardless of whatever they are. Certainly agency staff have never been allowed on delivery in my office barring a single unpleasant experience years ago. It is assumed that the delivery officers without anyone on leave will manage to cope and by and large, given fair weather, we do.

Agency staff and part time staff are totally different in my experience, limited though that is. Part timers have been recruited for at least the last five years in our office and will never have a full time contract in the foreseeable future. Most have families, many have second jobs and RM is not, like for most of us the primary income provider. Royal Mail have been allowed to denigrate the contracts without prejudice and that is not fault of the employee.

Ours is not a part-time job, I don't take too kindly to having to fight management everytime they try to make me prep a walk for a part-timer, it's a pain in the arse that I could well do without.

[dvbuk55]

Sorry mate, but this is not a part-time job.
I see part-timers as being a symptom of the malaise afflicting the full-time workforce, and as such, they should be eradicated.

Sorry DH, I may be my failing mind but I'm not sure I understand the post. I assume that agency staff are paid for the hours they do regardless of whatever they are. Certainly agency staff have never been allowed on delivery in my office barring a single unpleasant experience years ago. It is assumed that the delivery officers without anyone on leave will manage to cope and by and large, given fair weather, we do.

Agency staff and part time staff are totally different in my experience, limited though that is. Part timers have been recruited for at least the last five years in our office and will never have a full time contract in the foreseeable future. Most have families, many have second jobs and RM is not, like for most of us the primary income provider. Royal Mail have been allowed to denigrate the contracts without prejudice and that is not fault of the employee.

Ours is not a part-time job, I don't take too kindly to having to fight management everytime they try to make me prep a walk for a part-timer, it's a pain in the arse that I could well do without.

Well there are two issues there DH, one is if you have the time within your duty to prep the delivery where's the beef? The second is why has the part timer not been made full time if there is insufficient time to prep it by a full timer? Still not the part timers fault is it?

[kendo1]

I have the utmost sympathy toowards agencey staff,having worked on agencey staff years ago.Their were no Temp staff in deliveries this year so we do not see first hand how they are treated.
But why should it be a surprise some sections of RM work force are treated unfairly copared to others,and the CWU officials localy are as guilty as any one for permitting such actions and taking advantages of certain situations for their own personal gain.

[bandit650]

Many years ago i started as a Royal Mail casual and i was treated with the up most respect and i got payed on time all the time,the Angard staff were treated like they were second class citizens some had worked 3 weeks and had only been payed once,at this time of the year we need help and this temp work force are there and some feel that they have got a purpose in life even if it is only for a short period of time,these people deserved to be treated with respect,we in our office did get things moving we got them some cash and we did what ever we could to help but never in my 24 year time with RM have i ever seen such a lash up as i have this year,i really hope we never see it again it was embarrassing.

[kirkleyrunner]

I currently work as an Angard casual on delivery. I have worked hard over the Christmas period and my DOM wants me to stay until March, when there may be a permanent contract for me. I have so far been paid £290 for 4 weeks full-time work on a tough rural round, all on foot. I want to stay, but can't if I'm not going to get paid correctly.
I am the only casual in my unit, and the RM staff have been nothing but friendly and supportive. DOM has done his best for me too.

I have to say though that in my experience the permanent staff don't seem to realize that this scandal has implications for all staff. If RM are going to use their own agency to hire cheap labour, and circumvent the Agency Workers' Regulations, RM could look very different in the future.

As regards to the forum, there is nothing stopping Angard staff from browsing all parts of it, as I have with interest. It can seem a bit "them and us" with there being a separate Angard section, but as that section is now full of anger and frustration, it's probably for the best!