London Postal Workers' Campaign for a Future Issue 1

[clashcityrocker]

It's not about being PC, it is about maintaining a certain level of civility. I think you'll find it in the rules of the site that you signed up for.

As for management hype - well I can only tell you about my DO:
Where people claim they are being bullied if they don't get to sit and read the paper for an hour while their colleagues are on IPS.
Where people regularly finish 2 hours early and then get paid 4 hours docket to perform 2 hours "belated delivery docket."
Where there simply isn't sufficient work to support the hours. And that work is dropping.

So far from adopting management policies, all I'm interested in is job security - mine, yours and everyone else's.
Because those underperforming offices will drag all of us down and my guess is that within 18 months (I say 18 because I am an optimist. My head says much sooner) the USO will have gone and with it tens of thousands of jobs (compulsory redundancy) and the CWU.

[Jamesethefirst]

We should not even be talking about incentive plans. We are very well paid for what we do and the company is in decline and some of us (not just the usual suspects) are now actually working less hours than we are paid. Its a shock to my system to be finishing really early these days.

Lets just start using the PDA to start and finish when we are supposed; and then we can also be more flexible even perhaps banking hours where it might be necessary or where it works (MC for starters - they do some form of banking anyways; people are allowed to go early sometimes and some days they work over for more days off or later starts).

Its not about doing all that RM wants but protecting all our jobs and staying ahead of the competition and maintaining profits. RM is definitely in decline and it is not just the share price that says so but RM's prospect is not that of growth in the next few years.

Like RM said, even standing still will require a lot of sacrifices and more cuts and job losses. OT is a start and managers actually managing the resources better to reduce underutilisation and OT will also help. I still managed to do OT today and still finish within my contractual time - that is weird but that is due to absence and the fact that we are carrying at least 3 (PT) vacancies.

RM and management will have to find a way of making everyone in delivery flexible and totally micro manage traffic in such a way as to be able to deploy staff to cover walks without OT - it could be merging 3 walks for 2 people or different varieties of working such as star-busting and so on... Use of vetted agency staff in delivery...

This is our company and we should all want it to succeed without resorting to narrow selfish interests. Incentive just to do one's job is not on - that is for bankers

Could you explain how you can finish at your contracted time and still do O/T. How do you square that particular circle ? Given the letter from Sue Whalley ,regarding effective management of overtime?
See the overtime thread.

[halfull]

It's not about being PC, it is about maintaining a certain level of civility. I think you'll find it in the rules of the site that you signed up for.

As for management hype - well I can only tell you about my DO:
Where people claim they are being bullied if they don't get to sit and read the paper for an hour while their colleagues are on IPS.
Where people regularly finish 2 hours early and then get paid 4 hours docket to perform 2 hours "belated delivery docket."
Where there simply isn't sufficient work to support the hours. And that work is dropping.

So far from adopting management policies, all I'm interested in is job security - mine, yours and everyone else's.
Because those underperforming offices will drag all of us down and my guess is that within 18 months (I say 18 because I am an optimist. My head says much sooner) the USO will have gone and with it tens of thousands of jobs (compulsory redundancy) and the CWU.

seems to me this office needs a good rep!
& those ghost hours you talk about being booked are for managers to sort out as it is frowned upon these days!

[Judgee]

As for management hype - well I can only tell you about my DO:
Where people claim they are being bullied if they don't get to sit and read the paper for an hour while their colleagues are on IPS.
Where people regularly finish 2 hours early and then get paid 4 hours docket to perform 2 hours "belated delivery docket."
Where there simply isn't sufficient work to support the hours. And that work is dropping.

Well that's a far cry from my office that's for sure. No overtime is paid to anyone on their own walks, cutoffs are now fed back in the following day until they are eventually cleared. Everybody goes on IPS except a few doing OT cover. There isn't enough staff to cover the work we do have. I can't even book one day off 6 months in advance because we are so short staffed.

There are still a lucky few who finish early every day, that is only a very lucky few!

[chrisj]

Could you explain how you can finish at your contracted time and still do O/T. How do you square that particular circle ? Given the letter from Sue Whalley ,regarding effective management of overtime?
See the overtime thread.

I think the explanation was in my post. We have not been that busy lately... It never used to be like that but D2Ds, mail and packets have dropped even for a wednesday.

And to be fair, I only did one row and it did not take that long and only worth about 1.5 pints of lager after tax I was only doing the visiting manager a favour because I had stopped doing OT for my regular manager...

I do not ask for OT but most people do not like doing delivery OT and we have 3 vacancies and absences - even with staff from another office, all the walks could not be covered. And I aint doing it for nothing - of course!

Lastly, if the managers could find a way to keep people in the office without letting them go early then we might be finishing close to our times but that will not really happened.

And as for OT not being done whilst still in contractual time - the managers have to find a way round that problem; it is almost unworkable to expect a large number to go back out for OT after 3 pm...

The answer is the use of PDA to monitor things where mail volumes have dropped (which will be a nationwide thing soon). RM still benefits from people working for nothing but that benefit will reduce or evaporate with declining mail/packets and work.

[dvbuk55]

The message in the comms is that we are up for change but it can't just be on the basis of what Royal Mail"s terms. This is why we are clearly stating we up for discussions on efficiency but there has to be a productivity scheme when the staff share in the saving for having to work harder.

No one is saying if traffic has dropped then there will be hours being proposed to come out but we have not signed up to any agreement which says we just agree to what Royal Mail wants. To the contrary we have signed up to mutual interest solutions. This is why we in London are prepared to stand up and not agree unless their is an incentive scheme and a strategy for dealing with the issues we face.

Perhaps if other places took the same position we would get an agreement rather then just what Royal Mail wants hence them laying off the FTCs in the North.

Ofcom’s excuse for failing to act is that they claim
that TNT are only operating within three cities in
the UK and that Royal Mail should be more
efficient. Particularly in London

Now where have I seen that before. It would seem that some areas consider Royal Mail as a cash cow, whereas the vast majority of areas have been working towards cutting costs by embracing the agreements for years and accepting the need to work for every hour paid. Ghost docket ended years ago or should have. You cannot sustain FT work if the workload isn't there and it would appear that RM are taking the bull by the horns despite airy fairy agreements that mean FA.

[Glenno]

well that killed that conversation then dvb

[dvbuk55]

well that killed that conversation then dvb

Yes I'm afraid it has Glenno - after the 4 page spiel about how we need to protect jobs in London I would have thought it might have engendered some sort of attempt to be nationally inclusive. On the other hand maybe the penny has dropped and that finally some have seen that where there is shame there is blame.

[SpacePhoenix]

I don't think any boycott of TNT's stuff would work, if I remember correctly during the last industrial action it was mentioned that it would be illegal.

What needs to happen is for a number of things to stop, that's what's screwing everyone:

[*] Running around a walk
[*] Starting before your official start time
[*] Not taking meal reliefs
[*] Cutting across people's lawns etc
[*] Not using trolleys when you're meant to

That's 5 things that spring to mind, there's probably more, if all delivery staff were to stop doing them things then the DOMs would be forced to add more hours. There's too many delivery staff making walks look achievable when if they were to not do them things, then the size of the walks would (hopefully) be fixed so that they are generally achievable.

[Brain Fury]

I don't think any boycott of TNT's stuff would work, if I remember correctly during the last industrial action it was mentioned that it would be illegal.

What needs to happen is for a number of things to stop, that's what's screwing everyone:

[*] Running around a walk
[*] Starting before your official start time
[*] Not taking meal reliefs
[*] Cutting across people's lawns etc
[*] Not using trolleys when you're meant to

That's 5 things that spring to mind, there's probably more, if all delivery staff were to stop doing them things then the DOMs would be forced to add more hours. There's too many delivery staff making walks look achievable when if they were to not do them things, then the size of the walks would (hopefully) be fixed so that they are generally achievable.

Technically this is correct but the last thing RM can afford to do is to start adding hours into the operation - quite the reverse. Savings will need to be made one way or another.

[dvbuk55]

And of course not having the workload to sustain the workforce doesn't help

[Rommagic]

Could Royal Mail take away Tuesday delivery? saves them money and makes more work on a Wednesday.

[dvbuk55]

Could Royal Mail take away Tuesday delivery? saves them money and makes more work on a Wednesday.

Well with a little collaboration anything is possible

[Rommagic]

Or they get rid of Monday delivery Tuesday more mail then,I don't want this change but fear for our future.just read banking hours and more flexible on its way.

[aiden01]

I don't think any boycott of TNT's stuff would work, if I remember correctly during the last industrial action it was mentioned that it would be illegal.

What needs to happen is for a number of things to stop, that's what's screwing everyone:

[*] Running around a walk
[*] Starting before your official start time
[*] Not taking meal reliefs
[*] Cutting across people's lawns etc
[*] Not using trolleys when you're meant to

That's 5 things that spring to mind, there's probably more, if all delivery staff were to stop doing them things then the DOMs would be forced to add more hours. There's too many delivery staff making walks look achievable when if they were to not do them things, then the size of the walks would (hopefully) be fixed so that they are generally achievable.

Technically this is correct but the last thing RM can afford to do is to start adding hours into the operation - quite the reverse. Savings will need to be made one way or another.

surely if people are doing the job properly and not finishing on time then rm need to add hours into operation or do they just want posties to work for nothing.