RMC:From the FT via the BBC news

[Thorby Bislam]

This may be covered elsewhere but I saw this in the BBC news website's Ten Things section. A reprint of a Financial Times article entitled Royal Mail: the inside story. Rather long and probably nothing we insiders* don't already know but it's not aimed at people like us. It's aimed at non RM people, the general public.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/7b54bc84-54c3 ... z3GrWwOgMB
I'm copying it here simply because RMC gets a mention, I quote:

Last month, someone using the pseudonym “Conman” laid out a bleak future for the Royal Mail on RoyalMailChat, which styles itself as “the Independent Postal Workers Website”.

*OK, I know that I'm no longer an insider but I self-identify as a former postie. You can take the man out of the post but you can't take the postie out of the man.

[POSTMAN]

Last month, someone using the pseudonym “Conman” laid out a bleak future for the Royal Mail on RoyalMailChat, which styles itself as “the Independent Postal Workers Website”. Conman, whose profile suggests he works in a mail centre, said the group was “going downhill fast”.

He wrote that by 2016 – the group’s 500th anniversary – “TNT will be sorting and delivering all the mail from all DSA customers in every city in Great Britain.

Amazon will be delivering its own packets and parcels. Mail centres will be empty. Delivery Offices will attempt to survive on door to door items. Royal Mail will then be taken over by a company like TNT or Amazon. The share price will rocket”.

Conman is not a lone militant sceptic. One person who worked closely on privatisation points out that if the decline in letters is not offset by better growth in parcels, “you could see the complete unravelling of Royal Mail” within five or 10 years.

It's the longest article ever,it's interesting, we get a mention so not all bad,cheers Thorby.

[DGP1]

I wonder if they'll take other peoples views............in all my years in RM I've never had to deliver so much in such a small amount of time, dozens of tracked and Specials everyday and when added to the normal packets and recordeds really messes with timings.
If these journos think we do nothing then they can come out with me and see otherwise, or else they can shut up and keep their propaganda to the stupid who watch Geordie Shore.

[dvbuk55]

"Former messenger boy Dave Ward, Hayes’s deputy and the union’s main point of contact" - well times haven't changed over the last 40 years then except he is now Moyas messenger boy but his salary is paid by you and I so it's a pretty cheap operation for Moya.

[Martin Walsh]

"Former messenger boy Dave Ward, Hayes’s deputy and the union’s main point of contact" - well times haven't changed over the last 40 years then except he is now Moyas messenger boy but his salary is paid by you and I so it's a pretty cheap operation for Moya.

Currently there are negotiations on a range of issues , including confirming the 2.8 pay rise , putting back the review into MTSF , dealing with the threat to the USO from end to end competition , trying to stop the impact of one single pass , pushing Royal Mail to invest in growth opportunities , dealing with both Ofcoms and indeed Royal Mail desire to slash costs and increase productivity and of course the incentive issues.

I think the CWU , myself including are willing to take it on the chin about some offices having unrealistic workload issues and some offices having bullying management in place. We need collectively to stop this and that means at all levels taking responsibility in this issue including raising issues through the framework so it's logged nationally and then they have to act.

However some on here and the majority who are not on here must realise that Royal Mail is under real pressure and it's future and our future is at risk. The shareholders are beginning to pressure Royal Mail for more on the profit side , we have TNT who still have a strategy to take work from Royal Mail in the cities which Royal Mail gain the most profit from to provide the USO to those areas where it is more costly to operate and where no competitors want to deliver.

TNT due to problems with the VAT issue and the select committee review have not rolled out further in line with their timescales to others cities other than to Manchester , Liverpool and 50% of London. They are scheduled to move in Bristol and Birmingham in January but the review and decisions will influence this.

In fact the pressure already has meant that TNT who wanted to be in 42% of UK addresses by 2017 have now stated it will not be till 2019.

Now whether people like it or not when TNT do come into an area to deliver they take 20 to 25% of an offices workload? Now the call rate is not impacted that much and in fact most areas are seeing a growth in delivery points , the real impact is that an office suddenly lose their indoor hourage and therefore the impact will be on full timers and any part timers who are doing above their delivery hours. In addition the reality is that Royal Mail are losing revenue and that revenue helps cross subsidise the USO in the more costly areas.

In addition Amazon are a complete predator and have basically forced Royal Mail to move to door step scan but it's a real opportunity to retain Amazon workload.

First Time Delivery is also a thorny issue , some members do not want to do it , some members have an understandable issue on knocking on neighbours doors in unsavoury areas and of course some people have not got the time within their duty to do it. However Royal Mail have already lost or failed to rata in contracts over first time delivery rates and ultimately we may need extra time out doors to maintain jobs if one daily pass comes in.

You see it's easy for people to complain from a perspective of their own office experience. I agree higher up union people should listen more but the above is the battleground and will decide all our futures including the USO.

Communicating to the members must be improved so people know the threat but also why things will change.

The issue of the incentive scheme is also a real issue, Royal Mail have been criticised by Of com for 1 claiming that the USO might be at risk from end to end competition but at the same stage pay a dividend out to all staff for profit targets being met and a 3 years pay deal. On incentive they are concerned that when a lot of offices had seen productivity drop due to traffic loss be that parcels or letters and then paying out an incentive based on lower productivity levels then last year.

These are complex issues and slagging of individuals really is pathetic and shows a complete lack of understanding of the issues we face. I am up for a debate on policy or strategy but let's be clear I could reveal a lot more issues like Royal Mail desire to reduce the amount of time you get from geo route for delivering to addresses ect but that is just one of many discussions.

[dvbuk55]

Speak as you find I say. Now you highlight all the problems that Royal Mail are facing, as usual dingo, but the fact of the matter is the foremost challenge for the CWU should be the plight of its members in the workplace as it is today NOT what it will be in 2/4/6 years time, that is another battle and unless we get it right today there will be no tomorrow. Treading in RMs footsteps is NOT the way that the CWU should be going but listening to the people who do the job day in day out THAT is the primary role of the CWU. I retire in 7 weeks time dingo but were I to live another lifetime you and I would never agree on the role that the union should play and the usefulness of the agreements taken in the last few years.

[BoltonPostie]

Article mentions Moya saying "Our Union" speaks volumes.
Are the board paying subs now?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Communicating to the members must be improved so people know the threat but also why things will change.

I know this is probably being really picky, but I really hope that was an incorrect choice of words and not a symptom of what I think is wrong with the Union. The better choice, and the ethos I would like to see is "Communicating WITH members"

[dvbuk55]

Communicating to the members must be improved so people know the threat but also why things will change.

I know this is probably being really picky, but I really hope that was an incorrect choice of words and not a symptom of what I think is wrong with the Union. The better choice, and the ethos I would like to see is "Communicating WITH members"

Well I don't think you'll ever see that because the hierarchy of the union sees the members as a means to an end, giving them a salary to be sat at the table purporting to represent the members but in fact entrenching themselves in RM culture - look at the way they wanted to have the voting rights on our shares, a move they are probably looking at ways to bring about still. They manipulate the members to vote in a way that suits the CWU and not the members, IMHO they are no better than politicians with the promise of jam tomorrow.

[Martin Walsh]

TBT I think you were being picky , the best communications with members is face to face meetings so it is a two way street.

However written and timely communications are good too.

Dvbuk the union is there to solve both the here and now issues and the future union issues. Miners , print workers and dockers would have chosen job security issues just as high up as local issues.

The problem with the debate we get from some on here is that we have National agreements in place which stop bullying and forcing individuals to work beyond their time etc but we have had very few disagreements locally on such issues since the IR framework became enshrined in the legal document. If a local rep sees this type of bullying in the office then he or she can raise it to the next level. management cannot veto the disagreement. There is a audit taking place over how many disagreements have been raised. The CWU have the ability have a rep in 1500 offices across the country , they are the eyes of the union in the workplace and they have a legal right to disagree with management and raise the issue up if they believe that management are not applying the national agreements and are bullying staff.

The timescales which are monitored by the Divisional Rep and IR manager and the issues should be raised to the next stage within 7 days.

The CWU can react to disagreements , the question is if there are so many problems why are we not seeing more disagreements. I have dealt with 12 stage 3 disagreements since the Agenda for growth Agreement , the majority have been as a result of the outstanding BT revisions , one was on IR and ER problems , one was on workload issues and one on the filling of vacancies.

Now I see the level of disagreements in other divisions and they are lower than our probably due to BT outstanding revisions.

Now if people are suffering in silence they need the support of the union but they need to ensure that their rep or area rep pushes it through the disagreement process.

[fishtank]

The CWU can react to disagreements , the question is if there are so many problems why are we not seeing more disagreements.

No offence dingo but you took this line before in 2012 because we dared to say that bullying was rife in delivery offices and yet there were very few disagreements...and then the union put out a survey and we all found out that bullying was actually rife in delivery offices despite the fact that there were very few disagreements.

So I think rather than denying there is a problem in delivery offices you might want to look at the problem with the disagreement procedure and why...

a) Members don't trust it.
b) Some reps don't know how to use it.
c) Some branches abuse or ignore it to hide their own failings.
d) HQ is too slow to react to it.

Clue. The answer to A is almost certainly B,C and D.

[dvbuk55]

Dvbuk the union is there to solve both the here and now issues and the future union issues. Miners , print workers and dockers would have chosen job security issues just as high up as local issues.

The union don't solve the issues, they ignore them and it is an interesting turn of phrase to say "future union issues" as opposed to members issues and NO it's not being picky dingo it's actually indicative of the hierarchy's thought process in relation to its members. If the organisation does not ensure total representation for it's members then it is failing, there is no point in making agreements that are not adhered to and are not policed and the CWU is misrepresenting itself if it cannot ensure that. I'll tell you something dingo you don't see that turn of phrase " we are the union" anymore because people just don't believe it.

[slinder123]

the strength of the union to sort out problems in the workplace does need the members to unite and stand up to the problems in each unit just an example our unit the men moaned about managers throwing out rounds and doing delivery even though we have four vacancies to fill the rep asked the managers to stop doing the work but was told to get a vote from the majority the men did not back him too much to upset the management because it would affect there easy rounds and overtime so do not blame upstairs blame the workers who pay the weekly subs incase the s--t hits the fan for them one day

[dvbuk55]

the strength of the union to sort out problems in the workplace does need the members to unite and stand up to the problems in each unit just an example our unit the men moaned about managers throwing out rounds and doing delivery even though we have four vacancies to fill the rep asked the managers to stop doing the work but was told to get a vote from the majority the men did not back him too much to upset the management because it would affect there easy rounds and overtime so do not blame upstairs blame the workers who pay the weekly subs incase the s--t hits the fan for them one day

Just as a matter of interest slinder, what is the proportion of full time to part time employees and what proportion aren't members of the union. When was the last union meeting outside working hours your rep called, was the last branch meeting notified to your office and if it was how many attended, did a full time union rep visit your office to encourage attendance or has he ever visited your office.

[slinder123]

75-25 full time part time the men will not attend meetings after work because most are home before one and dont want to upset the manager 80 per cent are union members but as i have mentioned are all for themselves yes the area rep knows the situation with how the unit operates he did hold a meeting and explained the need to stick together but when it comes down to it they do the same old thing sad but true the manager has full control he manages as long as they do as they are told to do happy days