Are we doomed??

[postslippete]

Martin made the following comment on another thread

Unless the government agree to a level playing field including a single status worker then there will not be a Royal Mail as we see it in 3 to 5 years.


There is a puzzle that no one seems able to solve. Can't speak for other offices that have already deployed DM26, but in ours:

- duties are heavier, even after the imposed revisions
- parcel volumes continue to grow
- revisions still haven't properly been implemented
- people are working flat out
- overtime has largely disappeared
- shared vans are expected to absorb more work

Looking at this you would expect productivity to improve and yet we're still hearing that RM is forecast to lose over £200 million.

If labour has become leaner, people are delivering more than ever and overtime has largely gone, why aren't those savings showing up in the company's finances??

If the answer to every problem is making duties bigger by having 3 people cover what used to be 4 duties, sharing more vans and cutting overtime, yet the business is still forecasting substantial losses, doesn't that suggest the fundamental problems lie elsewhere?

My biggest concern is where this is ultimately heading.....

The USO has now been relaxed. RM has invested heavily in parcels and has just significantly increased its bulk mail prices. I'm under no illusions that higher prices accelerate the decline in letters and RM then becomes increasingly dependent on parcels, where competition is more intense.

If that happens, does the pressure simply continue to shift towards reducing labour costs in order to compete with companies operating much lower-cost models??

Martin suggested that without a level playing field and a single-status workforce there may not be a Royal Mail as we know it in 3–5 years.
Do others agree with that assessment? Or is the real issue that the business model still isn't producing the financial results expected, despite the increasing pressure being placed on frontline staff?

[fasrfreddy]

I would say most of the accounts and forecast are to be viewed with ,. Perhaps um wrong at best ,or designed to be misleading
They never seem to admit success as that would ask the question why are your workers paid more !

[tramssirhc]

You need to consider what Martin is saying within the context of his industrial and political perspective. You could be generous and describe it as paternalism or you could be realistic and describe it as peddling the company line.

No we aren't doomed but we do need to change our industrial and political organisation. The starting point is getting rid of Walsh and the rest of the bag avoiders.

Martin is the Gerald Ratner of the postal industry. Its a multi-billion pound industry getting rich off the back of the working class. The industry has the money available to pay thousands of workers millions of pounds and hundreds of thousands of workers so much money that they are in the 1% of high earners in the country.

That 1% of highest earners includes Dave Ward and Martin Walsh.

[tramssirhc]

Martin made the following comment on another thread

Unless the government agree to a level playing field including a single status worker then there will not be a Royal Mail as we see it in 3 to 5 years.


There is a puzzle that no one seems able to solve. Can't speak for other offices that have already deployed DM26, but in ours:

- duties are heavier, even after the imposed revisions
- parcel volumes continue to grow
- revisions still haven't properly been implemented
- people are working flat out
- overtime has largely disappeared
- shared vans are expected to absorb more work

Looking at this you would expect productivity to improve and yet we're still hearing that RM is forecast to lose over £200 million.

If labour has become leaner, people are delivering more than ever and overtime has largely gone, why aren't those savings showing up in the company's finances??

If the answer to every problem is making duties bigger by having 3 people cover what used to be 4 duties, sharing more vans and cutting overtime, yet the business is still forecasting substantial losses, doesn't that suggest the fundamental problems lie elsewhere?

My biggest concern is where this is ultimately heading.....

The USO has now been relaxed. RM has invested heavily in parcels and has just significantly increased its bulk mail prices. I'm under no illusions that higher prices accelerate the decline in letters and RM then becomes increasingly dependent on parcels, where competition is more intense.

If that happens, does the pressure simply continue to shift towards reducing labour costs in order to compete with companies operating much lower-cost models??

Martin suggested that without a level playing field and a single-status workforce there may not be a Royal Mail as we know it in 3–5 years.
Do others agree with that assessment? Or is the real issue that the business model still isn't producing the financial results expected, despite the increasing pressure being placed on frontline staff?

Also consider why Martin makes these prophecies on social media that he controls and nowhere else. If his vision is so clear why doesn't Martin pop in here and tell us all about it? I know why. The CWU's Nostradamus can't back up his assertions.

[Martin Walsh]

The difference is that I am responsible for circa 100 thousand members and have seen the “ books” and challenges! I am not looking at it from a political point that all employers are lying.

The fact is companies which don’t make money do not survive long.

Evri are charging £2.38 for a 48 hour product because they have a self employed driving model. Royal Mail need the cost to be £2.76 to break even not make a profit.

Almost every other competitor operates the same model , the company does not pay national insurance costs, they pay per parcel successfully delivered with no pension, annual leave , sick leave , van costs or disiel costs.

This is why more companies are moving to the cheaper model or are demanding Royal Mail reduce their parcel delivery costs or they will go elsewhere.

Parcel traffic is still increasing in Royal Mail but the revenue from parcels is not increasing at the same rate.

This is why it is essential that we get a level playing field which means if a Evri driver works for just company they are not self employed they should be employed.

Evri who are owned by the German company cannot do what they do in this country in their own as it is illegal.

The real concern is if we do not get a level playing field by 2028 when the legal protections are up for review that EP/ Royal Mail may operate the same model of owner drivers to compete.

Anyone who understands the challenges which all postal administrations are having will not simply offer cheap shorts and bury your head in the sand as it don’t suit your political agenda.

[norris9]

Looking at this you would expect productivity to improve and yet we're still hearing that RM is forecast to lose over £200 million.

Source?

I can't find anything about this.... only articles saying sickness costs Royal Mail £200mil a year.

[Wat69]

Martin , so what is the end game then , because I for one cannot work any harder for any longer for any less money !

[Jb1969]

On a slightly different note & with those protections running out in 2028 what is the likelihood of Voc & Distribution being franchised out?
Are there any protections from being so?

[norris9]

This is why it is essential that we get a level playing field which means if a Evri driver works for just company they are not self employed they should be employed.

The real concern is if we do not get a level playing field by 2028 when the legal protections are up for review that EP/ Royal Mail may operate the same model of owner drivers to compete.

How likely is it that the UK Government / Ofcom make the changes needed to get a level playing field. What's being done right now as 2028 isn't far away?

From what I have just researched it seems that a level playing field will likely happen.

[Valentina@1]

So no job for non drivers 2028

[tramssirhc]

The difference is that I am responsible for circa 100 thousand members and have seen the “ books” and challenges! I am not looking at it from a political point that all employers are lying.

The fact is companies which don’t make money do not survive long.

Evri are charging £2.38 for a 48 hour product because they have a self employed driving model. Royal Mail need the cost to be £2.76 to break even not make a profit.

Almost every other competitor operates the same model , the company does not pay national insurance costs, they pay per parcel successfully delivered with no pension, annual leave , sick leave , van costs or disiel costs.

This is why more companies are moving to the cheaper model or are demanding Royal Mail reduce their parcel delivery costs or they will go elsewhere.

Parcel traffic is still increasing in Royal Mail but the revenue from parcels is not increasing at the same rate.

This is why it is essential that we get a level playing field which means if a Evri driver works for just company they are not self employed they should be employed.

Evri who are owned by the German company cannot do what they do in this country in their own as it is illegal.

The real concern is if we do not get a level playing field by 2028 when the legal protections are up for review that EP/ Royal Mail may operate the same model of owner drivers to compete.

Anyone who understands the challenges which all postal administrations are having will not simply offer cheap shorts and bury your head in the sand as it don’t suit your political agenda.

Your cost per item figure is pie in the sky. What you are doing is creating the narrative to justify your decisions. You are laying the ground for yet more attacks on our jobs and your members, the very members you claim to have a moral responsibility to. That's paper thin by your own admissions - 'seen' the books yet wont share that information with us. That's not how responsible people behave.

We'd be sympathetic to you if you were honest about the 'cost' of operating the industry. You have just agreed DM26 which is without doubt the most inefficient delivery model I've ever seen. Workers are reporting 5 vans and 7 workers converging on duties to get them clear. You have allowed a model to be introduced that requires more than the three workers who you've agreed can complete the duties. You are pleading poverty on behalf of an industry that won't move a delivery point to make it more efficient to deliver to because of it's postcode.

If you are serious about the abuse of workers and it's affect on all workers in the industry you would be organising in every business in the industry. The CWU is incapable of organising the workers in the largest employer in which the CWU has a sweetheart recognition deal. Share with us the CWU's plans to organise, recruit and retain in the whole postal industry. Taking cheap shots at other workers and how they work is divisive and simply about the 'othering' of our brothers and sisters.

Where is the CWU's campaign to bring about the improvement in the conditions of workers in the industry? A serious trade union would be shouting from the roof tops about what's going on in the industry. The public see nothing from the CWU telling them to demand better from the industry.

[tramssirhc]

Martin , so what is the end game then , because I for one cannot work any harder for any longer for any less money !

Thats exactly what Martin is softening you up to accept. That's why he's banding about pie in the sky per item costs.

[tramssirhc]

This is why it is essential that we get a level playing field which means if a Evri driver works for just company they are not self employed they should be employed.

The real concern is if we do not get a level playing field by 2028 when the legal protections are up for review that EP/ Royal Mail may operate the same model of owner drivers to compete.

How likely is it that the UK Government / Ofcom make the changes needed to get a level playing field. What's being done right now as 2028 isn't far away?

From what I have just researched it seems that a level playing field will likely happen.

The government has bigger worries than stopping the exploitation in the postal industry. Its not new and there has been no government intervention to stop it in the last 20 years.

There could be some movement in ending the piggybacking on the USO but that requires parliament to act. The industry is unlikely to push for anything that will damage it's oligopoly. What's worth more to the employer? The ending of piggybacking or the multi-million pound contracts to deliver for the same firms who are piggybacking?

[Jefferson Starfish]

Martin , so what is the end game then , because I for one cannot work any harder for any longer for any less money !

Thats exactly what Martin is softening you up to accept. That's why he's banding about pie in the sky per item costs.

How do you know they're pie in the sky?
Do you have information he doesn't?

[thefox]

So no job for non drivers 2028

That might cheer up a few non driver haters in my office