overworked reserves

[pinky]

just wondering how bad it is for reserves in other offices, cos at mine im constantly getting walked all over and im fed up of it
typical day is sortin from 6am and out at 8.30 (thats if i even know which walk im on???)
then around 7.30 i'll get asked to sort another in another section in an area ive never heard of!!
8.15 get moved back to original walk only to find loads of missorts on frame so it takes longer
whilst everyone is leavin at 8.30 im still tying up and wondering how the hell to tye up and where to send bags as its not written in walk log,
9.00 discover there are no keys, mamager has buggered off again and i have no transport,
try to find bus from station to deliverypoint, get off at wrong stop and probably begin postin at 10.00, pissed off knowing others are done by 11.30, im still strugglin up till 3.30!!!

as for my contract it was 7am-1pm on rotation in town centre
in reality its anything from 5am-4pm, anywhere in west yorkshire if our office is busy, i dont know in advance when my days off are and i have to plead for long weekends and holidays,
im just taken advantage of and quite frankly pissed off

[POSTMAN]

Ok 1st of all you're 7-1,which is 6hr's a day,so why are you working longer,cut off,it'll soon get sorted.
DON'T work over you time if you don't want to,it's down to them for shoving you here and there,where's your REP.
Surely the others can help you in some advice in tying up ect.
Are you a cluster reserve?cause that's a bastard job,and how long has your sentence been so far(how long you been in the job )
Our clusters down here get a Phone call bout 6- 6-30 and have to get on buses to different offices in se lon throw the f****r up and take it out with NO help,they're 7-3.

[Docketman]

Pinky, I hope you're claiming overtime for all those hours. When I was new and slow, (last letter 5oclock once), nobody in managment told me I could claim. It was another postman who pointed out that I was giving it away. Once the dockets started going in I soon got better treatment, especially if you tell them you're dropping.

[Margate Postman]

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[pinky]

believe it or not my sentance has been 3 long years,
yes im claiming docket, but cut off seems mission impossible at our place unless you know well in advance you wont finish, most days i am in the same section, where i know 99% of the walks but when i first started it could be 5pm finish cos i knew no better, ive told other new starters about this and they are workin to cut off times which is great, im down to 2 0'clock at latest
unfortunatly we still get days when were sent out of our office which is a pain, but luckily i now have plenty of friends who can help me tye up n plead to the boss,
shame were still messed about though it would be great to know where were going.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

I used to be reserve then when the worst walk in the office came up, Long hills, bad estate etc, I went for it. No one else did so I got it. Even though it is a bastard of a walk Its a lot less stress and grief than being a reserve. Keep at it and bid for the first walk you can.

[Fishyfingers]

Been in the job nearly six years part-time to start with then got a job as a full time town floater suppose to cover 5 town duties for days off but cos i knew 13 of the 17 duties including phg i kept getting bumped about didn't mind liked the change but now i got pushed into reserve duty cos the boss had to make a duty for one of the guys that was only allowed to walk you do feel more s**t on as a reserve.

[POSTMAN]

Just hold tight Pinky,with all the changes,chances are your office could get a resign.
Then you might be able to do what TBT's done.

[ROCKY]

we had a reserve once who walked into the smoke room with his docket sheet in hand and asked how much meal relief you could book for a 9pm finish ,20 blokes doubled up laughing but none of us could answer him he had done parts of 3 different walks with no training and no transport from one to the other and finished up ringing bells at a time locked old peoples area and only gave up when nobody wold let him in 9pm cant think why

[POSTMAN]

Kin ell Rock,we've had 4pm's here,a new starter,well he's still doing it 3 months later,but 9!!!!
I dunno..............some people just aren't born with the skills for being a Postie
But seriously,can't remember the amount of times people have gone out blind on walks,with no idea where they're going.
There's no time,money,staff,to help these people out,it's such a sham.
What other job in the world would you just send someone out to do with the 'it's over there somewhere' mentality.

[majeed]

just wondering how bad it is for reserves in other offices, cos at mine im constantly getting walked all over and im fed up of it
typical day is sortin from 6am and out at 8.30 (thats if i even know which walk im on???)
then around 7.30 i'll get asked to sort another in another section in an area ive never heard of!!
8.15 get moved back to original walk only to find loads of missorts on frame so it takes longer
whilst everyone is leavin at 8.30 im still tying up and wondering how the hell to tye up and where to send bags as its not written in walk log,
9.00 discover there are no keys, mamager has buggered off again and i have no transport,
try to find bus from station to deliverypoint, get off at wrong stop and probably begin postin at 10.00, pissed off knowing others are done by 11.30, im still strugglin up till 3.30!!!

as for my contract it was 7am-1pm on rotation in town centre
in reality its anything from 5am-4pm, anywhere in west yorkshire if our office is busy, i dont know in advance when my days off are and i have to plead for long weekends and holidays,
im just taken advantage of and quite frankly pissed off

That does not sound nice. I can only imagine that it could be made worse by torrential rain, hills, poorly surfaced pavements and freezing wind.

[thcoms]

Im in a similar situation as Pinky, I was on a good round when I first started, it was a long & hard round but I worked a system to my advantage then those bastard DIMS took me of it & im now a reserve, never know from 1 day to the next where im going to be & as I also live out of the town I work from, it can be difficult to know where im going, i'll turn up for duty, my DIM will say you're on so & so walk, ill ask him which area it is & all I get is its somewhere around .....

THIS IS WHAT I CALL BAD MANAGEMENT.

Mind, I have never been out till 5pm, ill do my hours & cut off, if there is any mail left it gets pouched off & returned back to the DO as the DIMS are always cribbing bout my OT.

[majeed]

Im in a similar situation as Pinky, I was on a good round when I first started, it was a long & hard round but I worked a system to my advantage then those bastard DIMS took me of it & im now a reserve, never know from 1 day to the next where im going to be & as I also live out of the town I work from, it can be difficult to know where im going, i'll turn up for duty, my DIM will say you're on so & so walk, ill ask him which area it is & all I get is its somewhere around .....

THIS IS WHAT I CALL BAD MANAGEMENT.

Mind, I have never been out till 5pm, ill do my hours & cut off, if there is any mail left it gets pouched off & returned back to the DO as the DIMS are always cribbing bout my OT.

What do the DOM's have to say about it? What's Their side of the story?

[stuartG81]

i get asked to do O/T nearly every day, i should really learn to say no

ended up doin 15 and a half hours overtime one week, i joined in May and haven't booked any holidays yet

[johnnyp]

i get asked to do O/T nearly every day, i should really learn to say no

ended up doin 15 and a half hours overtime one week, i joined in May and haven't booked any holidays yet

That dont sound right mate Im sure you should have at least a week off on A/L after 3 months when you join.