After strike, Royal Mail failing delivery targets

[TrueBlueTerrier]

WARNING TORYGRAPH LINK

Twice as many first-class letters are being delivered late since the end of the postal strike, a Sunday Telegraph investigation has found.

A survey of 100 major routes shows that 14 per cent of mail is no longer delivered the next day – double the failure rate permitted under Royal Mail service targets.

The poor performance is attributed to new working practices and fresh union action which may be causing postmen to end their rounds with some letters still undelivered.

While other tactics, such as weighing mailbags to ensure that they are not too heavy for post staff to deliver, amount in effect to a work-to-rule.

The Sunday Telegraph study involved batches of 10 letters posted from 10 places in England and Scotland, with each letter taking a different route. All were sent on the same day.

Only two addresses, in Oxford and Ipswich, received all 10 of their letters the next day. Households in Middlesex, Darlington and north London received nine out of 10; those in Edinburgh, Coventry, Cornwall and south London received eight out of 10; and one home in Berkshire received only seven out of 10.

Of the 14 letters which failed to arrive, 10 turned up a day late, two came two days later and two were still undelivered four days after posting.

The 86 per cent success rate for next-day delivery is well below the 93 per cent-target that the Royal Mail has been set, and which it achieved in its last published performance figures covering April, May and June this year. Last year, a record 94.5 per cent of first-class letters arrived next day.

With about 2.7 million first-class items sent every day, our figures represent roughly 400,000 letters and packages not delivered on time.

The mail watchdog, Postwatch, called the findings of our research "disappointing" and urged the Royal Mail to be more open about the current state of the service.

Official performance figures due later this month will show that performance slumped during the summer months, when the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) staged a series of walkouts over proposals on pay, pensions and working practices.

But the official figures – based on 100,000 test letters sent every month – will already be out of date as they do not cover the period after the strike ended in the middle of last month, when millions of letters were still stuck in the system.

A deal was struck three weeks ago between Royal Mail and the CWU, and postal workers are expected to ratify the agreement in a ballot. While an uneasy truce exists between unions and management, sources claim that several factors may lie behind current poor performance.

A backlog of undelivered mail is thought still to remain following the strikes. Andy Frewin, senior director of Postwatch, said: "We are disappointed that Royal Mail has not been transparent with us about what the backlogs are.

"The last industrial action was more than two weeks ago, but they don't seem to have drawn a line under it."

Regional managers in some areas are understood to be pressing ahead with the introduction of "modernised" working practices, including the end of the "job and finish" system, which allows postmen to go straight home if they finish their rounds early.

Adam Crozier, Royal Mail's chief executive, has condemned the arrangement as an example of "Spanish practices", but its scrapping could backfire if it removes the incentive for staff to hurry.

At the same time, the union has launched a "do your job properly" campaign, urging staff to take rest breaks, to refuse to carry overloaded sacks, and to refuse to use their own cars for work.

Mr Frewin said industrial relations remained "tricky" ahead of the CWU ballot. Regarding the end of the job-and-finish system, he said: "We understand why people would say postal workers ought to work eight hours for eight hours' pay, but we also want people to do these rounds as quickly as they can. It would be bizarre if modernisation led to a worse performance."

Last month, state-owned Royal Mail revealed that directors' annual pay, benefits and bonuses had leapt from £4.3 million to £7.3 million.

Mr Crozier received a total package of almost £1.3 million, up 16 per cent.


Postal Facts

• Although 83 million items are mailed each day, only one in 10 is stamped, and of those two thirds are sent second-class.

• Each of the stamped 2.7 million items of first-class post should reach its destination anywhere in the British Isles the following day.

• Posted in one of the country’s 118,000 post boxes or 14,000 post offices, it is collected and taken to one of 70 UK mail centres where a machine identifies the class and address of the item before it is sent by road or air to a regional centre.

• It’s dispatched to a smaller office before being finally sorted by hand and passed to the postman

[pinstripe]

While other tactics, such as weighing mailbags to ensure that they are not too heavy for post staff to deliver, amount in effect to a work-to-rule.

Nice to see that the Torygraph are concerned with our health and safety! I think they want us to break the H&S regulations and work ourselves into an early grave. Well at least that will solve the pension crisis. (as mentioned into other threads) Mind you the tone of the article isn't as pro-RM as usual and maybe it's just me, but are they beginning to realise that RM Management are to blame for the decreasing quality of service? Or are they jumping on the 'Public Sector Fat Cat' bandwagon, like the rest of the media? Finally, notice how it's only Crozier that's getting hammered, Leighton's obviously being protected by his 'chums'
My own opinion is that Adam Crozier should be sacked for his blatent attempt to provoke and prolong the industrial action and Alan Leighton should be forced to resign for his support of his CEO. Oh, and Gordon Brown should have the courage to admit his governments attempt at the backdoor privatisation of a public service have been a total failure. Can't see any of these happening though.

[trythat]

I don't see what is wrong with working to the rules your employer sets out, I mean if I got stopped for speeding and when I ended up in court I qouted a lot of the newspapers and of course our bosses, and said 'I was going a bit faster becuase I'd get more done, and I don't belive in sticking to your rules'. I'd be laughed out of course, H&S rules are there for a purpose, becuase they are meant to make the drive doable and cut down on accidents and deaths etc.

[sevenandseven]

My goodness! What an in depth survey. They sent out 10 letters from 10 locations. 100 letters. What is the betting they chose the locations to prove an already written story?

[pinstripe]

My goodness! What an in depth survey. They sent out 10 letters from 10 locations. 100 letters. What is the betting they chose the locations to prove an already written story?

More thank likely, you know what the Telegraph is like. Just the same as the Sun and the Daily Mail, they 'adjust' the facts to fit their story. Deliberate omission is just as bad as a downright lie, but their readers like to have their views reinforced, just so they can say "see I told you so"

[postie28]

typical tory rag, condemning us for "doing the job properly". not surprising though. how many journalists do the job properly ?. never known one to let the truth get in the way of a good story.

[mailjock]

OK, so an editor wants to get a story in the paper to show that mail is arriving late - that's how a story starts. He doesn't say let's get an independent organisation in to check this out to see whether mail is arriving late or on-time.

He gets a few of his journos in different bits of the country to post letters to other journos addresses - did the Telegraph get COPs or do they have franked delivered envelopes. with a readable datestamp Even with these there's nothing to stop the journo that's received them telling porkies about when the envelopes were actually received so that he pleases the editor and gives him the story he wants and the journo has an easy life - even RM workers want the same :) I should make it clear that nothing I say should be taken as casting any aspersions on the integrity of the Telegraph journos involved in this particular story of course. Often for exercises like this a newspaper will use freelance journos so that there is a cut-off from them and instant deniability if they are caught-out in any monkey-business or should that be Spanish Practices.

I mean if 93-95 per cent were all delivered next day there would be no story.

And even if they give the research to an outside company they just pick the bits that suit the story - there is no honest journalism left in Britain or precious little. They think about the headline first and then go about assembling the 'facts' to suit the headline and hey bingo the editor was right after all when he sees that his intrepid reporters actually come up with the info to back up his headline. Champers all round.

[pinstripe]

And even if they give the research to an outside company they just pick the bits that suit the story - there is no honest journalism left in Britain or precious little. They think about the headline first and then go about assembling the 'facts' to suit the headline and hey bingo the editor was right after all when he sees that his intrepid reporters actually come up with the info to back up his headline. Champers all round.

Exactly, in my opinion they are all pants on fire!

[AndyK]

I am an operations manager for Royal Mail and what is said in your article is so true but it is much worse than you are currently writting. I recieve threats on a daily basis and it is like running a class of school children with aggressive chants and many of the staff doing their up most to work against the business. Currently we are all trying to remove the cars on delivery but now this has been done, nastier tactics have been endorsed by the Union with intimidation, the hiding of mail and trying to delay the mail anyway they can. The service is likely only to go in one direction whilst we are working like this
Posted by ? on November 11, 2007 1:19 PM

one cheeky ****ing comment put up by so called manager, we are the bullies in royalmail apparantly

[IWW Fellow Worker]

I am an operations manager for Royal Mail and what is said in your article is so true but it is much worse than you are currently writting. I recieve threats on a daily basis and it is like running a class of school children with aggressive chants and many of the staff doing their up most to work against the business. Currently we are all trying to remove the cars on delivery but now this has been done, nastier tactics have been endorsed by the Union with intimidation, the hiding of mail and trying to delay the mail anyway they can. The service is likely only to go in one direction whilst we are working like this
Posted by ? on November 11, 2007 1:19 PM

one cheeky ****ing comment put up by so called manager, we are the bullies in royalmail apparantly

It's written by a genuine manager. There is no doubt about it. The thick sod can't spell.

[Sandyman]

Yep, it's by a real RM manager.

threats on a daily basis....doing their up most to work against the business...nastier tactics have been endorsed...with intimidation.....delay the mail anyway they can

That's how RM managers have behaved for years.