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Nearly everyone to become reserves!

Postal workers discussion forum. Discuss the day to day life in a Blue Shirt.
TrueBlueTerrier
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Nearly everyone to become reserves!

Post by TrueBlueTerrier »

Postie45 wrote:is this an actual thing theyre actually thinking of bringing in or just some wild rumour ?

I think its a bit of both.

Some "Blue Sky thinking" by an office twonk who thinks the reality is Computer Sam and Pixel Sue delivering on a simulated town on his computer. Then someone else, realising that no plan last beyond first contact with reality, but not wanting to put their head above the parapet and be considered a "naysayer" has leaked it to gain a reaction from the shop floor.
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toomuchcoke
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Nearly everyone to become reserves!

Post by toomuchcoke »

TrueBlueTerrier wrote:Some "Blue Sky thinking" by an office twonk who thinks the reality is Computer Sam and Pixel Sue delivering on a simulated town on his computer. Then someone else, realising that no plan last beyond first contact with reality, but not wanting to put their head above the parapet and be considered a "naysayer" has leaked it to gain a reaction from the shop floor.
Sounds about right! If everyone was a reserve, then this could mean that the reserves would stop getting screwed over when it comes to their days off. You'd just schedule everyone's rotating days off, and people would move from delivery to delivery as required on any given day whilst retaining their day off (and long weekends). Assume a high enough level of sequenced mail and you shouldn't have any major problems with people having to prep rounds that they don't know either

Alas whilst this plan probably sounds absolutely wonderful if you're high enough up the management food chain (i.e. sufficiently high that there's no chance of you having to go into a DO and explain it!), it would fail completely when it hit reality! Specifically in terms of rural deliveries, where in my experience the only place they're documented is in the heads of the people doing them! Good luck finding Whitehouse Farm when (a) it's not visible from the road, (b) doesn't have a white house even if you could see it and (c) doesn't have it's name on a sign anywhere!

(Now it's occurred to me that the RM could solve even this problem, however since it would involve spending money and require them to develop a sensible piece of computer software I think we can reliably say it's not going to happen! :left: Imagine a tablet sized screen in the centre of the van dashboard - It shows the the GPS route to your next call, and gives details of any hazards that may be present on the way. And obviously has advance/reverse buttons for if you're skipping a call.)
rambo1
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Nearly everyone to become reserves!

Post by rambo1 »

Grinder64 wrote:
TrueBlueTerrier wrote:So Royal Mail never fails to disappoint. Instead of keeping us informed they elect to paint the blackest picture possible (and sometimes so does the CWU) and then when it turns out not that bad, some think we have dodged a bullet.

Same old, same old.
Precisely. Anyone remember the hullabaloo when D2D payments were removed as well as the cap on 3 per week? All hell rightly broke loose and so to quell and pacify the ire someone, somewhere calculated and circulated the rumour that 'they will come pre-prepared in one envelope'. Subsequently the changes agreed and lo and behold, 7 D2Ds potentially, no envelope or any combining method and most front line foot soldiers sold a pup. The bottom line is that every single change that RM have instigated or imposed in recent years has had a negative effect on the working conditions and quality of life of the majority of postal workers and I have no reason to suspect that the corporate mindset will ever tip the balance in our favour. Heads they win, tails we lose.
Have you ever actually worked out over a full yr, if you used to get more money for d2d than you do now? I reckon I probably get more now, there's 6weeks a yr for a start that I get it when I didn't used to. Realistically, how many people get more than 3 lots EVERY week? The only ones shafted are the part timers who should really get the same as full time as they deliver the same. Same old thing, people kick a fuss up when you get six lots (maybe twice a year) and tend to forget about the weeks you don't get any (and still get paid).
BeamishStout
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Nearly everyone to become reserves!

Post by BeamishStout »

If this feckless idea ever becomes a reality then I dare say I would be more inclined to work to my time than I currently do. Last week performed 1.5 hours on 2 busy days on 'my own duty'. Would I be prepared to do this being shoved from pillar to post? No way :sad:

But I do empathise with the plight of 'reserves' in general and 'part-timers' in particular. They are used by RM as the means to manage the workload!
LouBarlow
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Nearly everyone to become reserves!

Post by LouBarlow »

I maybe missing something, but how would this work in more rural areas? Would the top 20 seniors exclusively occupy the more specialised routes? It wouldn't bother me to be honest. Come in on time and go home on time, job done. Don't care about anything else any more.
Stormproof
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Nearly everyone to become reserves!

Post by Stormproof »

I don't mind being a reserve. What I do mind is being paired up with the office idiot or people I really don't like.
So keep on moving, moving, moving your feet
Keep on shuf-shuf-shuffling to this ghost dance beat
Just keep on walking down never ending streets


Illegitimi non carborundum
mr hil.
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Nearly everyone to become reserves!

Post by mr hil. »

In my DO The most senior postie regularly moves to different duties because over the years he has done them all at some point and so knows more duties than anybody else. Other senior posties do the same, flexibilty is key to our office with staff working extra days off so others can attend weddings and getting the day back later, prepping each others D2D becuase you have time to, and generally helping each other out when you can.

I thought that when one wave comes in the sequenced mail will not be thrown off but taken out in the tray it arrives in and we will have to merge at the delivery point. So 1 tray of sequenced and 1 tray of mail from your frame and a whole load of parcels to be merged on the hoof!! Indoor work will be severely cut because the large letters will be sequenced too so less than half the IPS and throwing out to do.
SpacePhoenix
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Nearly everyone to become reserves!

Post by SpacePhoenix »

mr hil. wrote:In my DO The most senior postie regularly moves to different duties because over the years he has done them all at some point and so knows more duties than anybody else. Other senior posties do the same, flexibilty is key to our office with staff working extra days off so others can attend weddings and getting the day back later, prepping each others D2D becuase you have time to, and generally helping each other out when you can.

I thought that when one wave comes in the sequenced mail will not be thrown off but taken out in the tray it arrives in and we will have to merge at the delivery point. So 1 tray of sequenced and 1 tray of mail from your frame and a whole load of parcels to be merged on the hoof!! Indoor work will be severely cut because the large letters will be sequenced too so less than half the IPS and throwing out to do.
I can't see there being sequenced mail if one wave comes in, unless RM expect DO staff to be delivering stuff when it's dark as you'd be looking at 13:00 or later before some DOs would get their sequenced mail, you'd probably be looking at around 50mins to an hour to sequence each batch and that's assuming that there's not more then about 30ish boxes, anything more then that and you'd have to run the left overs separately. Sequencing could be started until the inward plan has been run on the big machines so you'd be looking at 05:00-05:30 at the earliest start time for sequencing and chances are that the large machines wouldn't then be available as they'd be running 2C, Mailsort and DSA
Postie45
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Nearly everyone to become reserves!

Post by Postie45 »

also raises problems with knowing your customer, things such as delivering to neighbours, knowing who`ll likely be in and wlling to take a packet or even at what time someone will be home so something can be delivered will all go out the window.
mr hil.
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Nearly everyone to become reserves!

Post by mr hil. »

I hear what you are saying but the details I posted are what RM would like to happen, Maybe the next day for first class will be pushed forward 24hours so we would be running a day in arrears, with mail arriving at the DOs in the evening for delivery next day. This would have to be run past the regulator first of course but they are pushing for RM to be more efficient and to improve it's productivity.
Postie45
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Nearly everyone to become reserves!

Post by Postie45 »

mr hil. wrote:I hear what you are saying but the details I posted are what RM would like to happen, Maybe the next day for first class will be pushed forward 24hours so we would be running a day in arrears, with mail arriving at the DOs in the evening for delivery next day. This would have to be run past the regulator first of course but they are pushing for RM to be more efficient and to improve it's productivity.
makes you wonder why the regulator is pushing for more efficiency whilst making the service worse and worse for the customer...... the whole thing stinks of back hander deals going on somewhere
rubberbond
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Nearly everyone to become reserves!

Post by rubberbond »

steve522 wrote:I heard today that when 6hr deliveries and one wave are introduced the top 20 senior members will be full time and everyone else will become reserves.

Anyone heard anything similar to this?
I keep on asking the same question,when this sort of thing rears its ugly head. Namely, how on earth are they going to cover duties ,due to short term issue, sickness cut offs,and the like, the whole business runs on overtime,always has,so if you are out delivering for 6 hours,(which seems unlikely,somehow),those of us who do extra on overtime,won't be able to help out,especially when we are getting out at the times we are now,so are the managers going to do it, or are they going to recruit more staff? We should be told. We probably won't be and the union will present it as "saving jobs" ,etc,etc. Yet we have to work these stupid ideas to the best of our ability. I give up.
SpacePhoenix
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Nearly everyone to become reserves!

Post by SpacePhoenix »

mr hil. wrote:I hear what you are saying but the details I posted are what RM would like to happen, Maybe the next day for first class will be pushed forward 24hours so we would be running a day in arrears, with mail arriving at the DOs in the evening for delivery next day. This would have to be run past the regulator first of course but they are pushing for RM to be more efficient and to improve it's productivity.
The only way that RM have any chance of one wave happening is if all letters and large letters that aren't SD items get made a 3 day service:

* Day 1 posted, transported to the inward MC overnight
* Day 2 Letters sequenced (maybe together with large letters if RM replace all IMPs, iLSMs and CSS with XMS machines) Sequenced mail dispatched during the evening and overnight to DOs
* Day 3 Sequenced mail thrown off and delivered
bustedflush
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Nearly everyone to become reserves!

Post by bustedflush »

rambo1 wrote:
Grinder64 wrote:
TrueBlueTerrier wrote:So Royal Mail never fails to disappoint. Instead of keeping us informed they elect to paint the blackest picture possible (and sometimes so does the CWU) and then when it turns out not that bad, some think we have dodged a bullet.

Same old, same old.
Precisely. Anyone remember the hullabaloo when D2D payments were removed as well as the cap on 3 per week? All hell rightly broke loose and so to quell and pacify the ire someone, somewhere calculated and circulated the rumour that 'they will come pre-prepared in one envelope'. Subsequently the changes agreed and lo and behold, 7 D2Ds potentially, no envelope or any combining method and most front line foot soldiers sold a pup. The bottom line is that every single change that RM have instigated or imposed in recent years has had a negative effect on the working conditions and quality of life of the majority of postal workers and I have no reason to suspect that the corporate mindset will ever tip the balance in our favour. Heads they win, tails we lose.
Have you ever actually worked out over a full yr, if you used to get more money for d2d than you do now? I reckon I probably get more now, there's 6weeks a yr for a start that I get it when I didn't used to. Realistically, how many people get more than 3 lots EVERY week? The only ones shafted are the part timers who should really get the same as full time as they deliver the same. Same old thing, people kick a fuss up when you get six lots (maybe twice a year) and tend to forget about the weeks you don't get any (and still get paid).
LOL....Being a saddo I used to put them in an excel sheet to answer exactly this question.
In my last full year April to April my stats were summarized thus:

Total weeks worked = 40 = 240 days. (I was on Rota Wally week)

1 week@6
3weeks@5
10weeks@4
10weeks@3
13weeks@2
3weeks@0

Oddly, never had a single week with a lonely single one!

Average over working year was 2.95 per week.

Total days sick 5/240 = 2.1%

Total days went over: 9 = 3.75%

Total days early (includes early starting and breaks and is based on contracted hours for that particular day) 164 = 68.3%

Total Days on time (if I finished within 7.5 minutes over/under i.e. my finishing time was in the centre of a 15-minute span.) 62 = 25.4%

Bank Hols when I was not on rota/leave are counted as 'on time'.

There ya go! D2D's less than 3 a week, usually thrown off when I got back early Saturdays in advance, in RM time.

P.S. Sorry forgot to add, this doesn't include separately- paid electoral matter.