Dispute Update : Today Royal Mail have announced executive action in 15 different offices across the UK.

deltaforce · Post by **deltaforce** » 23 Jan 2020, 16:23

Flexible working! And with a weakened union and managers on the March whose going to stop them?

hero22 · Post by **hero22** » 23 Jan 2020, 16:25

Although fully supportive of the union , it would be useful to hear exactly their plans and what it is they disagree with. The simple fact is there is much more competition out there and royal mail have to adapt. We may not like it but if it can sustain the company and keep us in a job is it not worth looking at instead of shooting down ideas. Is it also royal mails responsibility to create a working pattern that allows people to pick up their children ? Most of the country don't get such a luxury.

GRS · Post by **GRS** » 23 Jan 2020, 16:40

I think the CWU and us members have to be careful here. It seems that the union and ourselves are just moaning and nitpicking holes in every bit of change. Yes we may not want or like change (who does?), but people moaning because they have to clock in and out or their start time might move by 30 minutes is going to come across as petty. I’m sure many people have to clock on or have their start/finish times adjusted to fit in with their employers business needs. We need to pick the real big points out and fight RM on those fronts. Reading this site there are hundreds of things people moan and winge about but you can’t call a strike on everybody’s personal gripes. As someone else has mentioned RM won’t give a damn that your kids finish school at such and such a time, and to be fair why should they. It is a parents responsibility to provide childcare for their kids not your employers.

hero22 · Post by **hero22** » 23 Jan 2020, 16:41

GRS wrote:I think the CWU and us members have to be careful here. It seems that the union and ourselves are just moaning and nitpicking holes in every bit of change. Yes we may not want or like change (who does?), but people moaning because they have to clock in and out or their start time might move by 30 minutes is going to come across as petty. I’m sure many people have to clock on or have their start/finish times adjusted to fit in with their employers business needs. We need to pick the real big points out and fight RM on those fronts. Reading this site there are hundreds of things people moan and winge about but you can’t call a strike on everybody’s personal gripes. As someone else has mentioned RM won’t give a damn that your kids finish school at such and such a time, and to be fair why should they. It is a parents responsibility to provide childcare for their kids not your employers.

deltaforce · Post by **deltaforce** » 23 Jan 2020, 16:46

That’s why unions were formed. Because employers never gave a damn.

Ozzvaldo · Post by **Ozzvaldo** » 23 Jan 2020, 16:55

We've had a 7am start in my office for over 9 years. Plenty of other offices have it as well (some slightly later, I believe). After a lot of arguing and agonising over the issue back in 2010, people who collect children from school just don't work past their finishing time. Management aren't always happy, especially during Christmas pressure, but that's their hard luck.

datasaint · Post by **datasaint** » 23 Jan 2020, 17:01

RM's strategy appears to be to drive the share price down and claim the business is struggling, scare everybody into accepting drastic change, and then the share price soars with renewed investor confidence.

scoobydo79 · Post by **scoobydo79** » 23 Jan 2020, 17:03

deltaforce wrote:
Marshamp11 wrote:
scoobydo79 wrote:
eldritch1987 wrote:A lot of people at Royal Mail have children to pick up after they finish school, a 7am start would give us a 3pm finish. That leaves it really tight to get back for school in time. I am not sure what they hope to achieve, it could be a case that i have to cut off regularily, but i would be cutting off half a loop or something whereas right now i never cut off as i have a 20 minute window of flexibility.
Also consider that as well as starting say an hour later potentially You May have 1/6 of another delivery added to Your route.
Adding 1/6 of a walk to a delivery is irrelevant as they could lump a whole walk onto a delivery but you only have to work to your time.
And if they walk over the union and essentially us. Then that option could be a thing of the past!

No it’s very relevant.Park and loop guys will be getting 1/6 of a walk added because You will no longer have the larger parcels to do on Your route.They will be done separately hence You will have time.Also You will no longer be sorting them in Your office

pinstripe · Post by **pinstripe** » 23 Jan 2020, 17:05

hero22 wrote:Is it also royal mails responsibility to create a working pattern that allows people to pick up their children ? Most of the country don't get such a luxury.

They are not creating a working pattern, we already have that. They are changing it, that is the problem. People have the responsibility of collecting their own children, that is why they chose RM, due to the attendance times, so they could fulfil their responsibilities. Just because others don’t have that “luxury”, why should we lose it. It would put additional pressure on thousands of people.

leolion855 · Post by **leolion855** » 23 Jan 2020, 17:22

scoobydo79 wrote: No it’s very relevant.Park and loop guys will be getting 1/6 of a walk added because You will no longer have the larger parcels to do on Your route.They will be done separately hence You will have time.Also You will no longer be sorting them in Your office

Will rurals/singletons still have to do their own oversized then?

scoobydo79 · Post by **scoobydo79** » 23 Jan 2020, 18:02

leolion855 wrote:
scoobydo79 wrote: No it’s very relevant.Park and loop guys will be getting 1/6 of a walk added because You will no longer have the larger parcels to do on Your route.They will be done separately hence You will have time.Also You will no longer be sorting them in Your office
Will rurals/singletons still have to do their own oversized then?

I’m not sure on that Leo . We don’t have many in My office.Mostly P&L pairs and HCT. I would guess no one does oversized.It will all be done by the designated drivers separately

leolion855 · Post by **leolion855** » 23 Jan 2020, 19:03

I wouldnt worry to much.

Working on 20 parcels an hour (as mentioned somewhere on here before) that works out that they want us to average a parcel delivery every 3 minutes. We all know this is not possible, you can be stood at they door that long without trying neighbours.

Working on the same 20 parcels an hour, that means 160 per 7 hour shift.

In my little (non lat) office we average 35 parcels per walk x the 6 rounds they want covered = 210 parcels per oversized lat driver + the LAT parcels which we dont have, so there's 50 parcels over before the parcel driver even starts! And with us being semi urban/semi rural the figures just dont add up here at least.

I imagine the big cities to be even worse.

eldritch1987 · Post by **eldritch1987** » 23 Jan 2020, 19:55

GRS wrote:I think the CWU and us members have to be careful here. It seems that the union and ourselves are just moaning and nitpicking holes in every bit of change. Yes we may not want or like change (who does?), but people moaning because they have to clock in and out or their start time might move by 30 minutes is going to come across as petty. I’m sure many people have to clock on or have their start/finish times adjusted to fit in with their employers business needs. We need to pick the real big points out and fight RM on those fronts. Reading this site there are hundreds of things people moan and winge about but you can’t call a strike on everybody’s personal gripes. As someone else has mentioned RM won’t give a damn that your kids finish school at such and such a time, and to be fair why should they. It is a parents responsibility to provide childcare for their kids not your employers.

That's all well and good saying why should they care, but at the end of the day if you have 1/5 of your workforce never being able to help out and even do 15 mins overtime then that will affect royal mail badly and also put pressure on staff.

SpongeBobPants · Post by **SpongeBobPants** » 23 Jan 2020, 20:13

GRS wrote:I think the CWU and us members have to be careful here. It seems that the union and ourselves are just moaning and nitpicking holes in every bit of change. Yes we may not want or like change (who does?), but people moaning because they have to clock in and out or their start time might move by 30 minutes is going to come across as petty. I’m sure many people have to clock on or have their start/finish times adjusted to fit in with their employers business needs. We need to pick the real big points out and fight RM on those fronts. Reading this site there are hundreds of things people moan and winge about but you can’t call a strike on everybody’s personal gripes. As someone else has mentioned RM won’t give a damn that your kids finish school at such and such a time, and to be fair why should they. It is a parents responsibility to provide childcare for their kids not your employers.

I don’t think anyone has suggested that it’s RM’s responsibility to sort childcare. It is about people choosing the line of work because it fit with their childcare needs. To change the start and finish times affects that.

GRS · Post by **GRS** » 24 Jan 2020, 04:38

Then unfortunately you have to make decisions. Nothing stays the same in our lives. Harsh but a fact. Sorting childcare is just one of those responsibilities that come when parents work. As some of us are saying RM won’t give a s**t about people’s responsibilities when it comes to making business decisions. Maybe that was what was behind the “ job for everyone one who wants it and can do it” quote.