Lympstone postman change causes village woe

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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The village of Lympstone, which is on the eastern shore of the Exe Estuary, wants to keep its current postman

A postman who has worked in a Devon village for 17 years is to be moved on after the Royal Mail announced a colleague with longer service will be given the patch.

Ray Cope is to leave Lympstone due to a "selection of duties" policy for long-serving staff.

Residents have launched a campaign to retain Mr Cope, saying he has become "part of the village".

Royal Mail spokesman Mike Norman said "a quality service will be maintained".

Although the identity of the new postman is yet to be revealed, Mr Norman said the person had been with the company for 30 years.

Councillor Ben Ingham, who lives in the village, said the change was "not a very smart idea" and appeared to be "a fait accompli without discussion".

"It seems to brush aside any rapport between the postie and the people he supplies the mail to," he said.

It is understood Mr Cope, who has declined to comment, is to be relocated to North Devon.

Posters supporting him have appeared in the village and several residents have written to Royal Mail.

Jennifer Mather, one of the residents leading the campaign, said: "Ray is overwhelmed and appreciative of all the support.

"It's the least we can do. The whole village is up in arms about this."

Royal Mail said it was taking a "standard selection of duties approach".

Mr Norman said: "It is always gratifying when our customers recognise the hard work of their postman or woman.

"We need to continually review our operation in the light of falling mail volumes and a change in what we deliver - fewer letters and more parcels.

"We can assure customers quality of service will be maintained."

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Lympstone postman reinstated following village campaign

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Royal Mail has made a U-turn over the future of a Devon postman following a campaign from residents.

Ray Cope was due to leave the village of Lympstone after 17 years with a longer-serving colleague due to replace him.

Residents launched a campaign to retain Mr Cope, saying he had become "part of the village".

Royal Mail has now said "more changes have been made locally" and "Ray will remain on his normal duty".

Posters supporting Mr Cope appeared in the village and several residents wrote to Royal Mail following the decision.

Jennifer Mather said Mr Cope was "overwhelmed" at the level of support

Jennifer and Frederick Mather, who have been taking part in the campaign, said the change is "great news" but they will continue with the online petition.

Ms Mather said: "The great news is that he will be with us for six months at the end of which there will be another review.

"He is so grateful and doesn't know how he can thank the village enough but we will do our best!

"We want Royal Mail to know that we will not give up on wanting Ray to be here for the foreseeable future."

Royal Mail spokesperson Mike Norman said: "We are pleased that our customers in Lympstone have had such excellent service from one of our postmen.

"It is always gratifying when our customers recognise the hard work of their postman or woman. I can confirm that as part of our on-going reviews, more changes have been made locally.

"This means Ray will remain on his normal duty."

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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Union tries to block postman reinstatement

A union is trying to block the reinstatement of a Devon village postman who was given his job back following a campaign by residents.

Ray Cope was due to leave Lympstone after 17 years, with a longer-serving colleague due to replace him.

But Mr Cope was reinstated in a move the Communication Workers Union said breaks an agreement with the company.

Royal Mail policy allows the worker with the longest service to choose their preferred route.

'Dangerous precedent'
Posters supporting Mr Cope appeared in the village and several residents wrote to the Royal Mail.

The company backed down on Wednesday and said Mr Cope would "remain on his normal duty".

But Chris Webb from the union said: "What we can't have is a community or group of residents rewriting a nationally agreed policy.


"If we allow a... very dangerous precedent to be set that is a problem.

"We love the rapport our customers have with our postmen but they cannot determine our internal policies."

The Royal Mail said: "When changes to our operation become necessary, we allocate routes based on seniority.

"This is agreed between Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union, who represent our employees. Royal Mail is committed to this agreement.

"We wish to reiterate that we fully understand our customers' concerns, and recognise how important long-serving postmen and women are to the communities they serve."

East Devon councillor Ben Ingham said: "Ray Cope has served our community for 17 years. He has not let us down and we don't want to let him down."

He said the agreement between the Royal Mail and the union was "set up for all the right reasons, but it has caused a problem and my suggestion is to have another think about it".

The Royal Mail is due to meet the union later.

Mr Cope has not spoken out about the decision, and the postman due to replace him has not been named.

[POSTMAN]

Come on Ray (if you haven't already,which it doesn't look like) man up and stop this bollox.

[chewi]

Nasty!!

I remember "The way forward" when managers(Not sure if speech marks are right here) in my office assured a bloke he would keep the duty feeding the CFC when he was less than a year in. Imagine his dissapointment and anger when he didn't.

I have known lots of people who would be natural postmen who can't get their head around seniority, but honestly, don't those who have lasted the course despite management lunacy deserve some reward( posted by someone with 15years(this time) and still in the bottom half)

[blackadder]

welcome to the bright new world of r.m, citizens of lympstone. you wont know who your postie is and you be pretty sure you wont have a clue when he be turning up

[POSTMAN]

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Lympstone postman replaced after Royal Mail's second U-turn

A postman will be replaced despite villagers in Devon campaigning for him to stay, Royal Mail says.

The company had overturned its decision to replace Ray Cope, who has worked in Lympstone for 17 years.

But, now the firm has reverted back to its original plan to replace him with another staff member with a longer service record, under a national union agreement.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said the "right thing had been done".

After finding out Mr Cope was to be replaced, several residents wrote to Royal Mail and posters supporting him appeared in the village.

The company had backed down last week, saying Mr Cope would "remain on his normal duty".

But the CWU said it wanted to block the move, because it believed a community or group should not be able to rewrite "a nationally agreed policy".

Under the policy, Royal Mail can allow workers with the longest service to choose their preferred route.

In a second U-turn, Royal Mail spokesperson Mike Norman confirmed a new person would take over the route from 7 July.

He said: "The procedures we have in place for handling changes to our operation are agreed with the Communication Workers Union.

"We are pleased that Ray is so well-respected by the residents of Lympstone and we are confident that their new post person will quickly earn the same respect and trust within the community."

Chris Webb, of the CWU, said: "The right thing has been done in line with the national agreement and union policy and 99% of personal at the sorting office agree.

"We've simply seen a mistake by an individual manager and it's all been blown out of proportion with every twist and turn publicised."

Mr Cope has not spoken about the decision. His replacement has not yet been named.

[Lounge Lizard]

Chris Webb, of the CWU, said: "The right thing has been done in line with the national agreement and union policy and 99% of personal at the sorting office agree.
So Lympstone Delivery Office has the best part of 100 staff despite the village having a population of just 1754.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Doesn't matter if 99% of personal at the sorting office agree, as it grammatically incorrect. It should have been personnel.