Royal Mail is threatening to freeze £1.2bn in crucial investments if its employees vote next month for a national strike.
The postal workers' union has already rejected a pay offer of 2.5% or a £600 lump sum payment for the year and is instead demanding a 27% rise and a shorter working week. Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier says he will not go ahead with the company's five-year investment plan agreed in February unless 130,000 workers agree to management's 'final' offer, which is conditional on changes in working practices.
This means that giant sophisticated sorting machines, which offer the key to major productivity gains, will not be put into main sorting offices.
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Crozier talks bollox/Threat to withdraw £1.2bn investment.
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NEWS
- NEWS
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ROCKY
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DirtyHarry
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POSTMAN
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Look at it this way,which doesn't make sense anyway,he throws a strop,we don't get the super dooper machines,
we don't lose any more jobs.
we don't lose any more jobs.
I Wrote-During Covid-Which is still relevant now
It's good to get these types of threads, the ridiculous my manager said bollox, so we can reassure ourselves that while the world is falling apart, Royal Mail managers are still being the low-life C***S they have always been.
My BFF Clash
The daily grind of having to argue your case with an intellectual pigmy of a line manager is physically and emotionally draining.
It's good to get these types of threads, the ridiculous my manager said bollox, so we can reassure ourselves that while the world is falling apart, Royal Mail managers are still being the low-life C***S they have always been.
My BFF Clash
The daily grind of having to argue your case with an intellectual pigmy of a line manager is physically and emotionally draining.
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side_door
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POSTMAN
- SITE ADMINISTRATOR
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Exactlyside_door wrote:Let me get this absolutely right.
If I vote yes for Industrial Action RM won't buy those shiny new sequencing machines which they argue will require my hours to be cut and my job security to be undermined.
Best news I've heard in ages.
The mans an arse.I Wrote-During Covid-Which is still relevant now
It's good to get these types of threads, the ridiculous my manager said bollox, so we can reassure ourselves that while the world is falling apart, Royal Mail managers are still being the low-life C***S they have always been.
My BFF Clash
The daily grind of having to argue your case with an intellectual pigmy of a line manager is physically and emotionally draining.
It's good to get these types of threads, the ridiculous my manager said bollox, so we can reassure ourselves that while the world is falling apart, Royal Mail managers are still being the low-life C***S they have always been.
My BFF Clash
The daily grind of having to argue your case with an intellectual pigmy of a line manager is physically and emotionally draining.
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DirtyHarry
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- Joined: 13 May 2007, 23:16
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- Location: London
I didn't have my thinking cap on this morn !-
ROCKY
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robd
- Posts: 510
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Royal Mail delays drawing on funds for modernisation
By John Willman, Business Editor
Published: May 26 2007 03:00 | Last updated: May 26 2007 03:00
Royal Mail, the former postal monopoly, has yet to draw on a £1.2bn loan made available to automate its operations under a new financing framework arran-ged more than a year ago.
The investment package announced last May by Alistair Darling, trade and industry secretary, was intended to help Royal Mail compete against the new breed of private-sector postal operators after it lost its mono-poly at the start of 2006.
But although big business mail users are deserting Royal Mail in droves, Britain's dominant postal operator has failed to take advantage of the new system. HSBC and Lloyds TSB are the latest to shift their bulk mailings to UK Mail, part of the Business Post Group.
News that TNT, one of Royal Mail's biggest rivals, has been granted the right to launch a legal challenge over the state group's exemption from VAT will come as another blow.
The fall in business customers and the growing competition from its rivals are not the only problems for Royal Mail. The number of items of mail fell last year for the first time in decades, with most in the industry expecting further declines in the future as email and other digital messaging systems replace "snail mail".
In addition the government has been unable to find a high-profile business executive from the private sector to be deputy chairman and succeed Allan Leighton as chairman next year. And now the postal union is balloting members on a strike over this year's pay offer, warning of more fights ahead over changes in working practices, staff cuts and the plan to close the pension scheme to new entrants.
Mr Leighton has told staff the business has reached a "tipping point". "This is not about pay," he says. "It is about change which is fundamental to what we need to do. For we have to change the way we work to compete successfully, and for once we can fund it."
A priority is to invest in the equipment routinely used by continental European operators and its new competitors, which include TNT Post, the British arm of the Dutch postal giant, and UK Mail. This would replace hand-sorting of mail, closing the gap with private-sector operators which are 40 per cent more efficient.
But negotiations over the rescue package have dragged on and it was only last week that Mr Darling signed off on the details of post office closures to stop the £4m-a-week losses incurred by the network.
Royal Mail has continued to lose business to private operators. Banks, utilities, local authorities, charities and even a government department have signed contracts with the competitors, who collect and sort the mail before handing it over to Royal Mail for final delivery.
New equipment is being tested, but Royal Mail is not prepared to invest until it has negotiated new working arrangements with the Communication Workers' Union to produce efficiency gains.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
By John Willman, Business Editor
Published: May 26 2007 03:00 | Last updated: May 26 2007 03:00
Royal Mail, the former postal monopoly, has yet to draw on a £1.2bn loan made available to automate its operations under a new financing framework arran-ged more than a year ago.
The investment package announced last May by Alistair Darling, trade and industry secretary, was intended to help Royal Mail compete against the new breed of private-sector postal operators after it lost its mono-poly at the start of 2006.
But although big business mail users are deserting Royal Mail in droves, Britain's dominant postal operator has failed to take advantage of the new system. HSBC and Lloyds TSB are the latest to shift their bulk mailings to UK Mail, part of the Business Post Group.
News that TNT, one of Royal Mail's biggest rivals, has been granted the right to launch a legal challenge over the state group's exemption from VAT will come as another blow.
The fall in business customers and the growing competition from its rivals are not the only problems for Royal Mail. The number of items of mail fell last year for the first time in decades, with most in the industry expecting further declines in the future as email and other digital messaging systems replace "snail mail".
In addition the government has been unable to find a high-profile business executive from the private sector to be deputy chairman and succeed Allan Leighton as chairman next year. And now the postal union is balloting members on a strike over this year's pay offer, warning of more fights ahead over changes in working practices, staff cuts and the plan to close the pension scheme to new entrants.
Mr Leighton has told staff the business has reached a "tipping point". "This is not about pay," he says. "It is about change which is fundamental to what we need to do. For we have to change the way we work to compete successfully, and for once we can fund it."
A priority is to invest in the equipment routinely used by continental European operators and its new competitors, which include TNT Post, the British arm of the Dutch postal giant, and UK Mail. This would replace hand-sorting of mail, closing the gap with private-sector operators which are 40 per cent more efficient.
But negotiations over the rescue package have dragged on and it was only last week that Mr Darling signed off on the details of post office closures to stop the £4m-a-week losses incurred by the network.
Royal Mail has continued to lose business to private operators. Banks, utilities, local authorities, charities and even a government department have signed contracts with the competitors, who collect and sort the mail before handing it over to Royal Mail for final delivery.
New equipment is being tested, but Royal Mail is not prepared to invest until it has negotiated new working arrangements with the Communication Workers' Union to produce efficiency gains.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
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F0zziebear
- MYSTERY MAN
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re: A good article
Whoever wrote the article above generally knows what they are talking about. This is rare amongst journalists as most haven't got a clue and side one way or the other, thus contributing to the propaganda.
If RM want to compete on the full E2E then they need automate. That is fact. However, one could argue that the collection and processing of bulk mail is best served in the private sector as it is highly automated and doesn't need many staff to operate. It is eseentially a private service rather than a public one. Some of you may disagree, but under my interpretation of what is public and private sector I don't see numerous bank loan offers as being a public service!
The Government and especially the DTI take forever to go over these loan arranagement details. I also know for a fact that the DTI can do an about turn on almost any subject. We have an excellent strategy department who negotiate with the DTI, who are backed up by some top consultants.
RM also has an abysmal record for implementing new technology and most of the project team who will do this are in general failed managers elsewhere in the business. RM brought in a private consultant to set-up the implementation of these machines so there might be some light at the end of the tunnel. However, putting in the machines without taking the heads is pointless and will cause more problems.
SO in essence vote yes and the machines might be delayed longer. This means more contracts going to the competition, but by retaining 99% of the deliveries as posties you are safe, but processing staff on the outward shift should be re-skilling and looking for jobs at Kwik Save or Longbridge!
Hope this sheds some light on proceedings
F0zz
If RM want to compete on the full E2E then they need automate. That is fact. However, one could argue that the collection and processing of bulk mail is best served in the private sector as it is highly automated and doesn't need many staff to operate. It is eseentially a private service rather than a public one. Some of you may disagree, but under my interpretation of what is public and private sector I don't see numerous bank loan offers as being a public service!
The Government and especially the DTI take forever to go over these loan arranagement details. I also know for a fact that the DTI can do an about turn on almost any subject. We have an excellent strategy department who negotiate with the DTI, who are backed up by some top consultants.
RM also has an abysmal record for implementing new technology and most of the project team who will do this are in general failed managers elsewhere in the business. RM brought in a private consultant to set-up the implementation of these machines so there might be some light at the end of the tunnel. However, putting in the machines without taking the heads is pointless and will cause more problems.
SO in essence vote yes and the machines might be delayed longer. This means more contracts going to the competition, but by retaining 99% of the deliveries as posties you are safe, but processing staff on the outward shift should be re-skilling and looking for jobs at Kwik Save or Longbridge!
Hope this sheds some light on proceedings
F0zz
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mdtomuk
- Posts: 315
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PENSIONS
JUST A 'QUICKIE' ABOUT OUR PENSIONS. IN PENSIONS UPDATES 01 AND 02 WE ARE WARNED ABOUT 'THE SHORTFALL' AND 'COST OF PENSIONS IS RISING'. THESE ARE IMPORTANT PROBLEMS THAT NEED SOLVING! THERE IS A PART SOLUTION! THE PERSON(S) WHO WANT TO TAKE 35,000 TO 45,000 OF THE WORKFORCE THEREBY TAKING THAT SAME AMOUNT OF PEOPLE OUT OF PAYING CONTRIBUTIONS INTO OUR PENSION SCHEME (waffling, ed), SORRY, THESE PEOPLE NEED TO BE RECOGNISED AND THROWN OUT OF THE BUSINESS! STAND UP LEIGHTON AND CROZIER!!! -
robmacca
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- Location: England
In addition the government has been unable to find a high-profile business executive from the private sector to be deputy chairman and succeed Allan Leighton as chairman next year
Leighton going will be the best possible outcome - the sooner the better!You'd think it would be easy to find someone to replace him:
* part time hours
* £1m a year wage
* little work involved - make a few videos here and there etc.
United We Stand