The 35 hour working week agreed

[clashcityrocker]

we could be carrying a bundle of sequenced, a bundle of manual, and up to six D2D along with a PDA and any parcels, trying to manage that as well as avoiding the usual dangers, opening gates and knocking on doors is ridiculous.

But the "bundle" of manual doesn't really exist.
If you have 1 000 items and 95% of that is sequenced -
then the other 5% is therefore only 50 letters, and spread over your 20 bundles is 2/3 letters per loop on average.
You don't need to carry all 50 all the time, just the ones that correspond to the loop you are doing.

That doesn't mean that the idea isn't madness, it is. But the 3 bundles is a bit of a red herring.
Obviously if you had some sort of jacket where you could store extra items/D2D etc that would be a great help.

[fishtank]

The 95% "target" applies to machinable letters, most of the manual is made up of flats and...un-machinable letters presumably, that's far more than 2-3 items per loop.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

we could be carrying a bundle of sequenced, a bundle of manual, and up to six D2D along with a PDA and any parcels, trying to manage that as well as avoiding the usual dangers, opening gates and knocking on doors is ridiculous.

But the "bundle" of manual doesn't really exist.
If you have 1 000 items and 95% of that is sequenced -
then the other 5% is therefore only 50 letters, and spread over your 20 bundles is 2/3 letters per loop on average.
You don't need to carry all 50 all the time, just the ones that correspond to the loop you are doing.

That doesn't mean that the idea isn't madness, it is. But the 3 bundles is a bit of a red herring.
Obviously if you had some sort of jacket where you could store extra items/D2D etc that would be a great help.

http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... an#p735669" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

RM have raised the use of the Norwegian style 'body vest' as a delivery method.

[clashcityrocker]

The 95% "target" applies to machinable letters, most of the manual is made up of flats and...un-machinable letters presumably, that's far more than 2-3 items per loop.

Even if you had 20 letters/loop you still wouldn't be carrying a third bundle because you would keep it separate and just take out the next one you needed.
I work with people who regularly tie up before the second wave arrives and this is how they do it.
(Actually they might be the inspiration behind this idea?)

[IloveMYredTROLLEY!]

Why was this morning's WTLL RMTV propaganda about striking (again) saying that a 35 hour week would really mean 31 hours after breaks?

Four hours of paid breaks over five days? Which maths genius worked this out or tried to pull the wool over our eyes?

Currently, a five day week without extra break for going past nine hours in a day is 190/200 minutes (three hours and 10/20mins), depending on whether you have short Tuesday contract hours.

If the 35 hours are split equally, that's 7 contracted hours per day, which means unless you go over your daily paid break allowance will be 30mins instead of the current 40mins. 150mins, two hours 30mins.

Which means 32hours30mins of worktime on a contracted 35 hour.

But then I doubt the real world workload has a hope of being done in 7 hours, so we will get an extra 10mins paid break on the overtime... If we are happy to continue past our time.

[rambo1]

we could be carrying a bundle of sequenced, a bundle of manual, and up to six D2D along with a PDA and any parcels, trying to manage that as well as avoiding the usual dangers, opening gates and knocking on doors is ridiculous.

But the "bundle" of manual doesn't really exist.
If you have 1 000 items and 95% of that is sequenced -
then the other 5% is therefore only 50 letters, and spread over your 20 bundles is 2/3 letters per loop on average.
You don't need to carry all 50 all the time, just the ones that correspond to the loop you are doing.

That doesn't mean that the idea isn't madness, it is. But the 3 bundles is a bit of a red herring.
Obviously if you had some sort of jacket where you could store extra items/D2D etc that would be a great help.

http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... an#p735669" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

RM have raised the use of the Norwegian style 'body vest' as a delivery method.

What was their line when they got rid of bikes? Oh yeah, 'weight off the shoulder' . Lol.

[Captain Scarlet]

we could be carrying a bundle of sequenced, a bundle of manual, and up to six D2D along with a PDA and any parcels, trying to manage that as well as avoiding the usual dangers, opening gates and knocking on doors is ridiculous.

But the "bundle" of manual doesn't really exist.
If you have 1 000 items and 95% of that is sequenced -
then the other 5% is therefore only 50 letters, and spread over your 20 bundles is 2/3 letters per loop on average.
You don't need to carry all 50 all the time, just the ones that correspond to the loop you are doing.

That doesn't mean that the idea isn't madness, it is. But the 3 bundles is a bit of a red herring.
Obviously if you had some sort of jacket where you could store extra items/D2D etc that would be a great help.

http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... an#p735669" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

RM have raised the use of the Norwegian style 'body vest' as a delivery method.

That has to be against health and safety, how do you drive a van with that nonesense going on in front of you, could hardly reach the stearing wheel

[Lincox]

It,s the replacement for the air bags. This is the start. There will soon be side pouches for side impacts. The vans will soon be driverless so no worry about H&S.

[elteleltel]

I often get letters in the wrong place in the sequenced mail ,not just the odd few at the end .You would not be wanting to walk or drive back for those "machine mistakes"

[ScousePostie]

What exactly is the union stance on the 35 hour week. It is clear from their '4 pillars' campaign that they are in favour of a shorter working week but in what form? Do they want us to move to longer and later deliveries, or do they want a shorter working week but keeping the current hours that we have now?

[POSTMAN]

The reason why the CWU are pushing for shorter hours is that new technology is reducing indoor hourage and workload and will continue to do so. Royal Mail want to trial that 95% of the first wave does not than get sorted into a frame. They want to move start times by 2 hours later , they want to introduce the automation of parcels ( all be it , it is not working well at present.) they have the new CELLs machines in Exeter which do sort all large letter and manual.

In addition they want to have the hours you work linked to data capture to ensure you work all the hours your paid and at a suitable performance rate.

So if a full time duty remains at 39 hours and you have far less indoor time than the end result is your going to have a far longer delivery to ensure you work the hours your contracted too.

This is why the CWU want reduced hours for all staff to ensure that the job remains achievable and that jobs are protected.

The alternative is that on a 8 hour day , you will be out far longer than the average currently in the UK.

[ScousePostie]

The reason why the CWU are pushing for shorter hours is that new technology is reducing indoor hourage and workload and will continue to do so. Royal Mail want to trial that 95% of the first wave does not than get sorted into a frame. They want to move start times by 2 hours later , they want to introduce the automation of parcels ( all be it , it is not working well at present.) they have the new CELLs machines in Exeter which do sort all large letter and manual.

In addition they want to have the hours you work linked to data capture to ensure you work all the hours your paid and at a suitable performance rate.

So if a full time duty remains at 39 hours and you have far less indoor time than the end result is your going to have a far longer delivery to ensure you work the hours your contracted too.

This is why the CWU want reduced hours for all staff to ensure that the job remains achievable and that jobs are protected.

The alternative is that on a 8 hour day , you will be out far longer than the average currently in the UK.

I'd still be interested in knowing what the CWU want. Our office currently works 6:30-14:00 Monday/Tuesday and 6:30-14:30 Wednesday-Saturday (part time 8-14:00 or 8:30-14:30pm). I understand that the union is in favour of a shorter working week but what does that mean in regards to start/finish time -- is the union backing later starts and later finishes?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

The reason why the CWU are pushing for shorter hours is that new technology is reducing indoor hourage and workload and will continue to do so. Royal Mail want to trial that 95% of the first wave does not than get sorted into a frame. They want to move start times by 2 hours later , they want to introduce the automation of parcels ( all be it , it is not working well at present.) they have the new CELLs machines in Exeter which do sort all large letter and manual.

In addition they want to have the hours you work linked to data capture to ensure you work all the hours your paid and at a suitable performance rate.

So if a full time duty remains at 39 hours and you have far less indoor time than the end result is your going to have a far longer delivery to ensure you work the hours your contracted too.

This is why the CWU want reduced hours for all staff to ensure that the job remains achievable and that jobs are protected.

The alternative is that on a 8 hour day , you will be out far longer than the average currently in the UK.

I'd still be interested in knowing what the CWU want. Our office currently works 6:30-14:00 Monday/Tuesday and 6:30-14:30 Wednesday-Saturday (part time 8-14:00 or 8:30-14:30pm). I understand that the union is in favour of a shorter working week but what does that mean in regards to start/finish time -- is the union backing later starts and later finishes?

The answer isn't as clear cut as I think you are looking for.

The Union are looking for a shorter working week with no loss of pay to try and alleviate the extra outdoor work that will come with the new way of working.

The Union are neither for or against later starts (or finishes) but they probably do recognise that the start times will probably change but as with the outdoor element they want concessions from the business before they agree to it.

[ScousePostie]

Right, I see.

In our office we have a lot of walk overtime. Not as much walk overtime as there was 12 months ago but still a fair amount. My partner went off sick at the beginning of the week so I'm doing my walk by myself (specials and box collections for both walks). My partners walk is up on overtime. If working hours change and we're working until 5 or 6pm, I can't see anyone wanting to do any overtime. I'm a regular for overtime, but I would say right now that I wouldn't be prepared to do overtime until 7, 8, 9pm. It will be down to DOM to make sure everything is covered even if someone goes sick at the last second. The way our office is at the moment for people going sick, I could see entire walks being left in if there is no cover for a duty available.

[clashcityrocker]

The way our office is at the moment for people going sick, I could see entire walks being left in if there is no cover for a duty available.

And RM know all of this which is why they want to introduce "team working" so if one of your team go sick, the rest of you will have to step up and cover it.