Update

[world class male]

Parcels are up by 31 percent, that's the funniest thing ive heard in years ,if I had heard it from Rico fair enough,but coming from a union man unreal,,been averaging around 5-6 packet pages every day for weeks and at least 3 times oversize,and mines not the worst walk in office by a long chalk.

don't think i've had a slack day in 6wks, bearing in mind we should be light on everything and lapsing more this time of the year, obviously every office varies but we've had no agency or guys from other offices but got overtime galore, even saturdays , just cannot see how we lost money with the traffic coming through
overtime will ramp up even more for a week or so with more people out working and more 739's written
usually getting 2 or 3 a day, must be 15 today

[Martin Walsh]

Let’s be clear the last few weeks parcels and tracked have been increased massively. However not everywhere in the UK has seen massive increases in parcels , there are lots of areas which sadly do not see the same percentage increase in parcels because they are in deprived areas. These are national figures.

So with letters , if individuals don’t think letters have gone down by a third than why is every advertising Mail consultancy predicting that advertising Mail will decline for the first time in 10 years ?

Other factors which needs to be taken into account that one stage over 22% of staff were sick , so naturally the remaining staff would have had to do the work which would normally have been done by others. Sickness levels are around 10% which is still above normal levels and this is very localised.

I am happy to argue that our members are working harder than they were before the COVID 19 due to the increased levels of parcels , tracked , the increase in sick leave and the measures which have been put in as a result of social distancing. This is why the CWU have secured the COVID payment.

However if anyone believes that we don’t fact huge challenges if the letter traffic does not return than they are kidding themselves. Why do you think Royal Mail Made the move on the 5 day service which the union that forced them to step back from ?

[world class male]

This is why the CWU have secured the COVID payment.

Why do you think Royal Mail Made the move on the 5 day service which the union that forced them to step back from ?

so the covid payment will be paid pro-rata based on actual hours worked, i.e a PT whose regularly done over 38hrs p/w?
i'm FT but will be a real kick in the teeth for some very good posties, it maybe only £30 or so difference but in principle it doesn't sit well with me, and i'd be more than happy if the CWU set up a one off charity for us all to donate to

and until they actually step back from the temporary 5 day USO i'll reserve my judgement as i don't trust them one bit

[chocolatesaltyballs]

Let’s be clear the last few weeks parcels and tracked have been increased massively. However not everywhere in the UK has seen massive increases in parcels , there are lots of areas which sadly do not see the same percentage increase in parcels because they are in deprived areas. These are national figures.

I deliver to some of the most deprived areas in the UK and some very affluent areas too and the deprived areas are equally as bad with packets as any other area. What a load of nonsense. Obviously the Union have disappointing news coming for us?

[Pumpernickel]

So with letters , if individuals don’t think letters have gone down by a third than why is every advertising Mail consultancy predicting that advertising Mail will decline for the first time in 10 years ?

Manufacturers that have been shut down have nothing to sell.

Shops that were closed and have no online presence did not know when they would be open for business. Those with an online presence focused online, given people under lockdown are only able to "shop" online it would seem that online advertising (and paying to move up the google search list) would be the way to go due to increased online traffic.

Companies that had advertising planned before this situation arose, in hindsight, thought it may have looked bad advertising "56 toilet rolls for £X" when customers turning up could buy 12 maximum, or thought it may seem iffy advertising their end of life services in the early stages of a lockdown during a global pandemic.

Advertising mail dropping should be no surprise given recent circumstances.

As for volumes of actual mail (the addressed kind), the office I work from looks like they're stocking up on all the paper they can find. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if one or two frames broke through the floor, and then there's the parcel backlogs. Some of these walks were made much worse by that dropping of Sat mail, others were completing up until that change and now cannot.

[hero22]

So with letters , if individuals don’t think letters have gone down by a third than why is every advertising Mail consultancy predicting that advertising Mail will decline for the first time in 10 years ?

Manufacturers that have been shut down have nothing to sell.

Shops that were closed and have no online presence did not know when they would be open for business. Those with an online presence focused online, given people under lockdown are only able to "shop" online it would seem that online advertising (and paying to move up the google search list) would be the way to go due to increased online traffic.

Companies that had advertising planned before this situation arose, in hindsight, thought it may have looked bad advertising "56 toilet rolls for £X" when customers turning up could buy 12 maximum, or thought it may seem iffy advertising their end of life services in the early stages of a lockdown during a global pandemic.

Advertising mail dropping should be no surprise given recent circumstances.

As for volumes of actual mail (the addressed kind), the office I work from looks like they're stocking up on all the paper they can find. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if one or two frames broke through the floor, and then there's the parcel backlogs. Some of these walks were made much worse by that dropping of Sat mail, others were completing up until that change and now cannot.

It sounds like my office but the arguments above sound that only certain offices are seeing an increase in packages and mail. I deliver to the most deprived areas in the area I work and they are not lagging behind in parcel deliveries. If anything they are worse. I think its too be expected a drop in advertising mail due the current circumstances but when things start opening again surely business will ramp up the advertising.

Martin walsh made a point that if we don't think we are facing serious issues in the future we are wrong etc and if it wasn't for the union royal mail would not have backed away from the 5 day week. I'm not criticising him, but are we not delivering mail on a 5 day week still ? And if there are serious issues in the future is it not better to recognise them and possibly think 6 day delivery is not sustainable and may be the downfall of the whole company ? Come up with another plan that maybe does work and minimises job losses.

[Pumpernickel]

It sounds like my office but the arguments above sound that only certain offices are seeing an increase in packages and mail. I deliver to the most deprived areas in the area I work and they are not lagging behind in parcel deliveries. If anything they are worse. I think its too be expected a drop in advertising mail due the current circumstances but when things start opening again surely business will ramp up the advertising.

Martin walsh made a point that if we don't think we are facing serious issues in the future we are wrong etc and if it wasn't for the union royal mail would not have backed away from the 5 day week. I'm not criticising him, but are we not delivering mail on a 5 day week still ? And if there are serious issues in the future is it not better to recognise them and possibly think 6 day delivery is not sustainable and may be the downfall of the whole company ? Come up with another plan that maybe does work and minimises job losses.

I fully understand that the circumstances of my office aren't representative of everywhere, but for that to apply it must also be accepted that the national figures also are not representative everywhere.

Then there's the fact that some things that are being said should be no surprise whatsoever due to the lockdown, and they don't necessarily represent more "normal" effects that we'd see in the near term (due to different, unique, causes). Time will tell what happens with advertising as things move forward.

I do understand we are, and will continue to face challanges. I just don't see how a blanket policy that is detrimental to the operation of some offices can be applied everywhere with no consideration for localised circumstances (not the unions doing), so I'm just giving voice to the perspective whereby the national picture isn't even close to the reality of my local office which is why some don't accept the figures given.

I don't get enough information or have enough expertise to even consider trying to formulate any kind of plan, and I recognise that. I doubt there is a one size fits all solution (which is the impression I've been given the company is pushing for).

[rambo1]

I'm just wondering why revenue didn't go up in line with the volume? I'm not talking profits, just revenue. Surely the figures quoted means we are delivering an awful lot of packets for free. Are these 'loss leaders' to gain business? Let's hope the interim CEO can sort this out as he is the current CFO, he should be good with numbers.
It's a major screw up through when volumes are up 31% (officially) and revenue for that 31% increase amounts to a 22% increase. Something doesn't add up.

[wandle]

It's a major screw up through when volumes are up 31% (officially) and revenue for that 31% increase amounts to a 22% increase. Something doesn't add up.

I would speculate that because the revenue for each individual item is not identical (we get more revenue for a a large parcel than for a small packet), then a big increase in small packets and only a modest increase in large items could easily explain how total revenue does not necessarily increase at the same percentage as volume.
If we’d had a disproportionate increase in high-revenue items, then it follows that revenue gains could outstrip the percentage increase in volumes...

[Woody Guthrie]

It's also possible that many of our larger customers like Boots and John Lewis don't necessarily pay immediately they send a parcel.

They will be account customers, they might settle their account every month, every 3 months, 6 months in arrears... who knows?

Revenue is only revenue when you have the money in hand.

[manchesterpunk]

If parcels are up 31% and revenue is only up 22% on those parcels it simply proves how inefficient we are.

We spend so much time and money extracting and storing 2c parcels in the Mail Centre.

We have far too many parcel streams.

SD
Tracked 24
Tracked 48
1st Parcels (PPI, Meter, Horizon, Stamped)
2nd Parcels (PPI, Meter, Horizon, Stamped)
Plus all the various MOR.
Tracked Oversize
1c Oversize
2c Oversize
Oh and a PSM

Then you have the inward set up.

Why can’t our hand held scanners scan all mail and recognise its stream from the barcode. That way we could sort all of the outward in one work area.

We need to renegotiate with the regulator. To merge 1c and 2c into a standard class.

Its lunacy how we operate in our mail centres. The amount of double/triple/quadruple handling is criminal.

[SpacePhoenix]

If parcels are up 31% and revenue is only up 22% on those parcels it simply proves how inefficient we are.

We spend so much time and money extracting and storing 2c parcels in the Mail Centre.

We have far too many parcel streams.

SD
Tracked 24
Tracked 48
1st Parcels (PPI, Meter, Horizon, Stamped)
2nd Parcels (PPI, Meter, Horizon, Stamped)
Plus all the various MOR.
Tracked Oversize
1c Oversize
2c Oversize
Oh and a PSM

Then you have the inward set up.

Why can’t our hand held scanners scan all mail and recognise its stream from the barcode. That way we could sort all of the outward in one work area.

We need to renegotiate with the regulator. To merge 1c and 2c into a standard class.

Its lunacy how we operate in our mail centres. The amount of double/triple/quadruple handling is criminal.

There's a lot more packets with 2D barcodes on, maybe RM should work with the Mail Union (or whatever it's called) to get every item of mail that isn't a letter or flat to have a 2D barcode on it.

Over time (long term) Tracked 24 will completely replace 1C and Tracked 48 will completely replace 2C

[wallan]

Standard Class next day delivery ( Day B ) in the Mail Center collection area , Day C for the rest

[Deadly]

Standard Class next day delivery ( Day B ) in the Mail Center collection area , Day C for the rest

So as an example, Birmingham mail centre separates B postcode area from the mail that they collect and aims to deliver this the next working day (B), the rest of the mail for the UK is delivered the day after(C)? So first and second class mail no longer exist?

[SpacePhoenix]

Standard Class next day delivery ( Day B ) in the Mail Center collection area , Day C for the rest

So as an example, Birmingham mail centre separates B postcode area from the mail that they collect and aims to deliver this the next working day (B), the rest of the mail for the UK is delivered the day after(C)? So first and second class mail no longer exist?

Intra mail used to get processed separately in MCs up until must be 6-7 years ago and was dispatched separately, remember the pink labels