Unit Readiness Check

[POSTMAN]

Mezza,ask to see your Div rep and get him down there.

How many Div reps do you have in London?
Is there a breakdown of how many there are and where they are based?

From memory 2,1 and a sub and 1 is not far from Mezza.
Dingo will be able to answer this.

Edit: http://www.cwulondon.org.uk/officers.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Martin Walsh]

There are 9 Divisons in the UK. Each Divison has two Divisonal reps so there are 18 Divisonal reps in the UK plus one substitute Divisonal reps.

Unlike area reps and local reps , Divisonal reps cover collections, processing , delivery , Proffesional drivers , RDCs , MDECs ,CVIT and International.

To answer your question clash we have an office based off Old Street and there are the same as elsewhere two divisional reps and one substitute.

The nine Divisons are based on the old Royal Mail Divisons there are

Scotland and Northern Ireland
North East
North West & North Wales
Midlands
South Central
South East
Anglia
London
South West and South Wales

[dvbuk55]

Does the sub Rep do a job when he's not subbing or does he just sub Rep even when he's not sub Repping. If that's the case then there's effectively 27 Div Reps each being paid the enhanced salary then. I mean a saving would be just have two Div Reps one covering for the other when he's on holiday. Never having seen one in 25 years I just wonder if they are like having imaginary friends and no I haven't any of those either.

[Martin Walsh]

The Subsitute Divisonal rep normal deals with appeals against dismissal , training issues , quadrant reviews , Mail centre closures , RDC closures and IR Reviews.

We cover 15000 delivery offices , 37 Mail centres , over 50 RDCs and VOCs , 20 CVIT centres and a few international sites and we deal with the Directors.

Places like Scotland and NI or the North East , North West or even South West the area they cover is very large.

In my division there are 150 sites or operations , I have been to every site but the role is not to go to every office as their is a local rep , area rep and branch to do that job It is to try and resolve the issues they raise at director levels be that conduct , attendance , revisions , bullying , postbox strategy , resourcing. We also have hold meetings of area reps , deal wth peoples impact of closures MTSF and of course such things as growth ssiues Sunday opening of enquiry offices , Sunday parcels , Amazon doorstep scan , click and collect and sit on a growth board. There are a range of other things such as the DRG , outstanding BT revisions , agreeing a priority order for revisions in line with agreement on office revisions , where PIRs site etc.

None of this worries you of course as you have retired. Your experience is that of one person .

[dvbuk55]

The Subsitute Divisonal rep normal deals with appeals against dismissal , training issues , quadrant reviews , Mail centre closures , RDC closures and IR Reviews.

We cover 15000 delivery offices , 37 Mail centres , over 50 RDCs and VOCs , 20 CVIT centres and a few international sites and we deal with the Directors.

Places like Scotland and NI or the North East , North West or even South West the area they cover is very large.

In my division there are 150 sites or operations , I have been to every site but the role is not to go to every office as their is a local rep , area rep and branch to do that job It is to try and resolve the issues they raise at director levels be that conduct , attendance , revisions , bullying , postbox strategy , resourcing. We also have hold meetings of area reps , deal wth peoples impact of closures MTSF and of course such things as growth ssiues Sunday opening of enquiry offices , Sunday parcels , Amazon doorstep scan , click and collect and sit on a growth board. There are a range of other things such as the DRG , outstanding BT revisions , agreeing a priority order for revisions in line with agreement on office revisions , where PIRs site etc.

None of this worries you of course as you have retired. Your experience is that of one person .

The delivery office count is 1500 not 15000 dingo and so the actual Div Rep figure is 27 with the attendant costs and yes I retired on December 28th but my old office has 160 members so it's the experience of at least 159 plus me, and I'll wager that it's many more than that across the "150,000" delivery offices. Don't forget dingo I am also a shareholder and so whenever costs are accounted for it comes out of my dividend and consequent share price. You do make it sound incredibly difficult to be a Div Rep

[clashcityrocker]

There are 9 Divisons in the UK. Each Divison has two Divisonal reps so there are 18 Divisonal reps in the UK plus one substitute Divisonal reps.

Unlike area reps and local reps , Divisonal reps cover collections, processing , delivery , Proffesional drivers , RDCs , MDECs ,CVIT and International.

To answer your question clash we have an office based off Old Street and there are the same as elsewhere two divisional reps and one substitute.

The nine Divisons are based on the old Royal Mail Divisons there are

Scotland and Northern Ireland
North East
North West & North Wales
Midlands
South Central
South East
Anglia
London
South West and South Wales

So how long would it take a London Divisional Rep to get to the furthest office from their base and how long would it take a Scotland and NI Divisional Rep to get to their furthest office?

[Martin Walsh]

It depends whether you live in the capital or have been priced out of living in the capital and it depends whether your driving or if your flying in Scotland's case say to Northern Ireland.

I live about 45 mins away on a train from London as could not afford to live in London and it takes me 40 mins to walk to my nearest train station unless I drive to the station my furtherest journey is too Haton Cross near London Heathrow that takes me 2 hours and 40 mins by train and on the m25 it can take either an hour and half or up to 4 hours depending on traffic and accidents ! Due to the LAMU (London Airport Mail Unit ) relocation I have had do that journey on a regular basis over the last 12 months.

Now in Scotlands case they have no tube system and of course it is harder to cover the geographical area all be it the divisional reps come from Glasgow and Edinburgh and Aberdeen so they are not based in one location.

So I admit it is more difficult in areas which are bigger geographical wise and that applies to Branchs as well.

But I like to get out to offices regularly meetings allowing as that is our role. But ultimately if you expect divisional reps to just tour offices I do think Royal Mail may have a thing to say on that as the divisional reps role is too resolve issues at a senior level and deal with isdues which are a problem in work places they are not there to do the job local reps , area reps and Branchs should be doing.

[dvbuk55]

Well I sincerely hope the problems aren't too complex with the amount of travelling, breaks and lunch it doesn't leave too much time for problem solving.

[clashcityrocker]

But ultimately if you expect divisional reps to just tour offices........

No I don't.
It was simply Postman's remark about getting the Divisional Rep down to Mezza's office.
It made it sound like it was an everyday occurence.

[dvbuk55]

Reminds me a bit about the Australian MP visiting a brand new Hospital. He was being shown round the various departments where a description of each was highlighted by the number of beds, the number of Drs, nurses, ancillary staff. He then asked "Well how many patients do you have" to which the Manager replied "Patients? Strewth we haven't got time for patients".

[General Mannerheim]

The North West region might be a large area to cover but when you don't move out of your office in the first place....

[hampshireman]

Our local rep will no doubt be involved, although i should add he knew nothing about this second revision until it was announced to the whole office.

He will probably mainly be used to sign anything off and the less he needs to be involved the better as far as he is concerned.

Before our last revision our indoor duties worked to a 1 in 4 rota regarding weekends off - it was seen as fair compensation for having to work thier full hours every day whilst those on delivery were doing job and finish.

Post revision and the indoor duties were informed they had to fall in line with the rest of the office and work a 1 in 6 rotate like everyone else.

They took it all the way to a level 3 grievance as according to the 2014 National Agreement a 1 in 4 rotate would be made available where possible (i should add at this point that there had never been a complaint from anyone on a 1 in 6 about the indoor staff working a 1 in 4).
The outcome of the Level 3 hearing was that an addition had been made to the offices vote on the rotate pattern they would like to work. The office had voted to carry on with the 1 in 6, but the addition stated that the indoor staff would also work a 1 in 6 and that it had been agreed at local level and signed off by our Union rep.
The indoor staff asked for a printed copy of the addition but were told it was not available.
The Area rep was contacted about this and he said he knew nothing about it and that he didn't think our local rep would have agreed to something like this without speaking to the staff involved.
That was it, done and dusted and the indoor staff are still working the 1 in 6 to this day.

That's just one example of what has come out of our first revision and as i said earlier we have had no PIR either.
There is no faith in the local rep looking after the good of the staff and the Area Rep is hardly ever seen.

Since the announcement of this readiness Check we have had two visitors to our office (who i believe to be from other local offices) sitting at the computer with the DOM to clear up the A+ system as best they can. The A+ has always been the responsibility of our DOM Support, but after the Level 3 Grievance along with our RLE he now has to do a 2hr delivery every day as well as all his previous work and doesn't have the time to do the A+ work and a whole lot of other stuff on a daily basis. The other work is left to pile up and eventually staff will be offered OT to help clear it, even though other staff are going home up to 2 hours early every day.

We have had no new starters for about 2 years at least, despite losing several staff - these hours are now used to pay out OT so that several staff can come in an hour early every day to throw off packets and to distribute the mech trays.
We have no proters, managers throw off walks on a daily basis as well as doing the missorts and often helping with the tracked items (work they should have nothing to do with) - honestly it's a complete shambles and my only hope is that the planners see it for what it is and help get it sorted, but i very much doubt it.

Love this bit. So true and so much like my office.

Sadly the Planners wont see. They are blind.

They will see what they are told to see. (with maybe a margin of discretion to make people think that they have helped)

Or maybe I am just an old cynic

Great post BTW.

[Mezza]

Quick update.

Planners haven't turned up (were due Tuesday this week).

Turns out the A plus system is so out of date they wouldn't be able to start.

The DOM Support who used to keep the A plus updated until he was given a 2 hour daily delivery on top of his normal work, hasn't updated the A plus for about 12 months and management have been signing it off as done each week. The DOM support has no been taken off his duty to purely work on updatingthe A plus system, and his duty is being covered on OT.

There are so many discrepencies in the system it's untrue - a list of 5 pages of A4, that's without the plotting and catergorizing.

We have so many new builds that have so far been given to neighbouring duties with an overtime allowance, that the DOM Support has been told to create a new duty and stick themall in there, despite them being all over the area.

If the planners are waiting for the A plus to be completely updated it could take weeks or even months.

[dvbuk55]

Quick update.

Planners haven't turned up (were due Tuesday this week).

Turns out the A plus system is so out of date they wouldn't be able to start.

If the planners are waiting for the A plus to be completely updated it could take weeks or even months.

A Plus seems to be one of those chores that was ignored in previous revisions and now suddenly when it becomes critical to planning it's back on the front burner. Years ago I did the APlus on a daily basis with BRs and inputted the changes at the same time. The changes were then inputted every month on to a floppy disc and sent off to god knows where, I don't remember.

[Mezza]

Dandelions, fecking Dandelions......all that can be heard coming from the DOM Support office :-)