Rebuilding Royal Mail Part 2

[Patmanposts]

Martin.

New starter here…. 14 months with the company.

There have been 22 people leave and come and go in my time here, 22! how has this not raised alarm bells from HR or senior management?

I have never seen my DO fully staffed and most likely never will.

2 obvious issues why are work loads and wages.

Work loads are horrific, is the only way to put it. As a guesstimate, i reckon non tracked and tracked have gone up by two thirds in 1 year and the majority of rounds are too big. 2-3 days mail is the norm for me which compounds.

Wages. I appreciate you have done all you can, however, the money we get paid (just above national minimum wage) is simply an insult for what our bodies go through and the numerous other things we have to deal with and lack of support / tools to do the job.

The company cant fix staff levels until it fixes the work load…. and the work load can’t be fixed because we cant keep staff because of the work load and low wages. Vicious cycle.

So until equalisation happens (time frame? then this problem will continue.

Not blaming anyone personally, the situation is what it is but as a result of having to wait until December for something (no idea what), that's not enough for me to want to stay with the company and others feel the same way.

[norris9]

The company cant fix staff levels until it fixes the work load…. and the work load can’t be fixed because we cant keep staff because of the work load and low wages. Vicious cycle.

Definitely a vicious cycle as posties who would stay long term if the workload was fair end up leaving.... and then towns and villages cycle through all the potential workers in that area and struggle to find new recruits. It's stupidity.

The whole point in the pending USO change that will likely happen throughout the country is to provide a good service and therefore have manageable workloads. If we don't meet the USO requirements after being given this opportunity by Ofcom then surely they will throw the book at us. Royal Mail and the CWU HAVE TO make sure workloads are fair and achievable with the incoming change. If they don't then what's the point in the CWU anymore if they can't keep Royal Mail in-line and protect their members mental and physical health.

[Patmanposts]

The company cant fix staff levels until it fixes the work load…. and the work load can’t be fixed because we cant keep staff because of the work load and low wages. Vicious cycle.

Definitely a vicious cycle as posties who would stay long term if the workload was fair end up leaving.... and then towns and villages cycle through all the potential workers in that area and struggle to find new recruits. It's stupidity.

The whole point in the pending USO change that will likely happen throughout the country is to provide a good service and therefore have manageable workloads. If we don't meet the USO requirements after being given this opportunity by Ofcom then surely they will throw the book at us. Royal Mail and the CWU HAVE TO make sure workloads are fair and achievable with the incoming change. If they don't then what's the point in the CWU anymore if they can't keep Royal Mail in-line and protect their members mental and physical health.

YEP. And any DO that IS NOT fully staffed will not be starting the USO if i remember correctly as part of the agreement / what Martin / Tony have stipulated. another non starter vicious cycle.

[Hyrrokkin]

20k new entrants & only 148 have done more than 2 years.
That is one hell of a turnover of staff.
Simply, if RM do not drastically improve retention of said staff they are screwed!

But surely that is what the business wants. A transient workforce where people come and go rapidly, they want people to rock up and stay for 6 weeks, 4 months or a year then move on and so on. Much cheaper for RM, no real employment rights gained if you only stay somewhere for such a short time either. That’s why they’re so desperate to push older long serving staff out the door, they simply don’t want that sort of workforce any more.

Evri are the same, people turn up at the depot in their motor and fill the car up with parcels but once they’ve done it for a few days they jack it in and go and do something else. Doesn’t seem to do Evri any harm as they still have plenty of work.

It is Amazon's business model

[BELIAL]

It’s a s**t start Martin. 4.2% raise; CPI 3.5% ; if you pay for housing CPI 4.1%; RPI 4.5% , so if you have a mortgage or pay rent and don’t stable a horse or survive on champagne it’s a real terms pay cut of 0.4% in the first year. Stop talking gonads.

[grubbymitts]

Anyone got a link to the VR ready reckoner? I can't find the appendix anywhere. TIA!

[Woody84]

Martin.

New starter here…. 14 months with the company.

There have been 22 people leave and come and go in my time here, 22! how has this not raised alarm bells from HR or senior management?

I have never seen my DO fully staffed and most likely never will.

2 obvious issues why are work loads and wages.

Work loads are horrific, is the only way to put it. As a guesstimate, i reckon non tracked and tracked have gone up by two thirds in 1 year and the majority of rounds are too big. 2-3 days mail is the norm for me which compounds.

Wages. I appreciate you have done all you can, however, the money we get paid (just above national minimum wage) is simply an insult for what our bodies go through and the numerous other things we have to deal with and lack of support / tools to do the job.

The company cant fix staff levels until it fixes the work load…. and the work load can’t be fixed because we cant keep staff because of the work load and low wages. Vicious cycle.

So until equalisation happens (time frame? then this problem will continue.

Not blaming anyone personally, the situation is what it is but as a result of having to wait until December for something (no idea what), that's not enough for me to want to stay with the company and others feel the same way.

Exactly how I feel.

I’m being asked to do more and more and for what? Things *might* get better in December?

We need something now and not a measly pay rise but still not fixing the completely unfair two (three with agency) tier workforce. Give us something us something to hold onto and not just “wait until September”.

Let us know the plans and what/how you’re fighting for us.

[toonshola]

It’s a s**t start Martin. 4.2% raise; CPI 3.5% ; if you pay for housing CPI 4.1%; RPI 4.5% , so if you have a mortgage or pay rent and don’t stable a horse or survive on champagne it’s a real terms pay cut of 0.4% in the first year. Stop talking gonads.

Shhh be quiet. Don’t you see Martin and Dave have done gods work in the negotiations. They sat in a room for three months and managed to get the same payrise that some companies give out without having even to deal with a union.
All hail the 4.2% and the upcoming ODM. Our workloads are going to be fair and manageable going forward under this genius CWU leadership. I know it seems counterintuitive but doing double/triple mail every day is actually better for fatigue when you factor in an extra Saturday off every 6 weeks. 5 whole extra Saturdays off a year to flog ourselves into the ground to benefit a foreign billionaire. Sign me up!

[RM0942]

20k new entrants & only 148 have done more than 2 years.
That is one hell of a turnover of staff.
Simply, if RM do not drastically improve retention of said staff they are screwed!

Is this true?

[ted_e_bear]

20k new entrants & only 148 have done more than 2 years.
That is one hell of a turnover of staff.
Simply, if RM do not drastically improve retention of said staff they are screwed!

Is this true?

No it's only 146

See this post

viewtopic.php?p=1133938#p1133938

[toonshola]

20k new entrants & only 148 have done more than 2 years.
That is one hell of a turnover of staff.
Simply, if RM do not drastically improve retention of said staff they are screwed!

Is this true?

No it's only 146

See this post

viewtopic.php?p=1133938#p1133938

I knew there was a high turnover of new starters but those numbers are incredible.

[Smoothbackground]

Much is being made about the fact there are only 146 new-entrants with more than two years’ service.

Maybe, and I pose it more as a question, it’s because mass recruitment of new entrants didn’t really begin until around July 2023? Certainly the first intake at my own DO was towards the end of July 2023, and our most “senior” new entrant will only have his two-year anniversary later this week. That said, there are a few new entrants I know in other nearby offices who joined as permanent staff during the dispute.

[TopperGas]

20k new entrants & only 148 have done more than 2 years.
That is one hell of a turnover of staff.
Simply, if RM do not drastically improve retention of said staff they are screwed!

Is this true?

No it's only 146
See this post

viewtopic.php?p=1133938#p1133938

I knew there was a high turnover of new starters but those numbers are incredible.

I guess looking at it another way is if RM have now got 20,000 working for them on the new contracts and have lost a few 1000 they've no trouble recruiting staff on the new contracts? That being the case are the they really under any pressure to equalise the contracts?

[DGH]

The only pressure on them will be the cost of recruitment, which isn't trivial - you'd want staff to stay for a decent period to offset the cost of recruitment, uniform and training.

'Training' of course involves more than the induction day and following someone round for a day or two )maybe three of you're lucky). It also includes the time taken to become at least moderately efficient in the role, which some people manage quicker than others, but still takes time.

[DGH]

A 2022 study by Edenred showed the main reasons that people leave their jobs

Feeling unmotivated (15% of the 2,000 people surveyed cited this as a reason for quitting a job)
Being overworked (14%)
Management don’t care about wellbeing (14%)
Poor atmosphere (14%)
Less pay than I wanted (13%)
Rude boss (11%)
A lack of room to progress (11%)

Royal Mail manage to tick almost all those boxes!