Postal Strike

[TyphooToffee]

Thought I'd start this up before I go into work and find out what might or might not happen now that there has been a resounding 'Yes' to the vote on industrial action. For the record, although the union did ask for a move towards the national average wage, and it did amount to an eventual 27% increase on current pay, the vote was not about money but the fact that Royal Mail, who says we're 20% overpaid and 40% underworked, want so many strings attached to the 2.5% on offer, we'll be delivering the mail looking more like Thunderbird puppets than postmen!

The fact that Adam Crozier, who left the FA after lumbering us with Sven (who, of course, is still being paid for doing NOTHING! :angry: ) and who works a couple days a week and picks up [Poor language removed]-off bonuses for cutting jobs, sits there preaching to us on screen about how we've all had to suffer (he includes himself in that too! :blink: ) probably wound-up even those (like myself) who otherwise would have voted against action.

Incidentally, the vote was to give Royal Mail time to reflect, not for us to just walk out.

Watch this space

 

[Rob]

Although I appreciate the position you are in and think you guys are getting a hard time, people who work in a job to serve the people (firemen, police, doctors nurses etc) shouldn't be allowed to strike.

Sorry if that annoys you, but its just my opinion.

Postmen of course the least important of those, but by you guys striking you are [Poor language removed] up the working lives of millions of people and thousands of business' or am I way off the mark in the impact it will have?

 

[Bruce Wayne]

If you don't like the wages and/or conditions, why sign up for the job in the first place? Militant unions tried their best to destroy Britain and are still trying their best in the last vestige of power they have left, the public sector. Lets not try and kid ourselves that the unions are out for 'the people', they're out for themselves, hence why they blocked the pension reforms that the public sector so needed.

I'm sorry, but unions piss me off and the sooner we don't have any left the better this country will be.

 

[SuitsBlue]

politics,

unions exist because sometimes the decision makers like to bully workers, sack workers, implement change (cost cutting, job cuts, increase duties for no extra pay)

the current policy that sees newly recruited police having to be 'community support officers' is a farce, it simply means watered down policing AND not paying police wages & pension to new recruits whilst they serve their enforced CSO duty.

havnt ambulance personel recently gone through the wringer?

it was only a couple of years ago the firebrigade were striking, a footnote being the withdrawl of support for the labour party. (about 100k a year if i remember correctly)

when politicians and union breakers like prescott (hope you die johnny boy ) talk about 'change', 'stream lining', 'efficiency' it means cuts, it always has and always will. and they dont give a [Poor language removed] about the people providing the services they so readily take for granted.

ps. john prescott, make your final hours full of agony. cheers.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Funny how it's only public sector workers that kick up a fuss isn't it.

 

[Rob]

Funny how people had jobs and lives before unions...

Unions don't exist here in Japan and I'll be frank when I say the Average Japanese worker is probably 10 times better than the best UK worker.

supermarkets, garages, shops anywhere you go people have to work damn hard to keep their jobs otherwise they lose it. simple as.

I fully agree with bruce on this.

 

[SuitsBlue]

Funny how it's only public sector workers that kick up a fuss isn't it.

all the rest are looked after properly. continually the public sector is the first to be squeezed.

when was the last time a government was streamlined?

 

[SuitsBlue]

Funny how people had jobs and lives before unions...

Unions don't exist here in Japan and I'll be frank when I say the Average Japanese worker is probably 10 times better than the best UK worker.

supermarkets, garages, shops anywhere you go people have to work damn hard to keep their jobs otherwise they lose it. simple as.

I fully agree with bruce on this.

different country, different rules. uncomparable.

 

[TyphooToffee]

If you don't like the wages and/or conditions, why sign up for the job in the first place? Militant unions tried their best to destroy Britain and are still trying their best in the last vestige of power they have left, the public sector. Lets not try and kid ourselves that the unions are out for 'the people', they're out for themselves, hence why they blocked the pension reforms that the public sector so needed.

I'm sorry, but unions piss me off and the sooner we don't have any left the better this country will be.

I 'signed up' six years ago. Since then single day delivery has come in. This has meant fewer postmen, meaning less people to sort the mail and longer, heavier walks. We were assured it would still be job and finish in order to get agreement from the union. Of course this has meant the vast majority of postmen rushed round to try and get finished at a reasonable time. Like most postmen I cut corners (still having to spend time decyphering badly addressed mail, stopping to pick up bloody stupid small letters that fall out of the bundle of mail whilst on delivery, etc.) yet still finish around my cut-off time even though I never take a break. Now Royal Mail reckon we can have yet longer rounds seeing as many still finish before 1pm. If we all did the job as it's meant to be done there is no way we could have longer walks.

Remember, I broke my ankle rushing to get finished on time but that counted against me when sick leave was taken into account. I have always been against industrial action - indeed I voted 'No' - but had I waited longer and seen the cynical tactics RM have adopted - especially as the 'Yes' vote is intended to make RM think hard about the general feeling of unrest and not to just walk out - I would have definitely voted 'Yes'. Despite appealing to the general public, RM readily admit the public are not the customers they want as there are massive losses on 'social' mail; they are just the long-suffering dumping-ground for the masses of junk mail that RM make their profit from. There will be more and more junk mail and later and later deliveries.

The likes of DHL, TNT, UK Mail etc (whose mail WE deliver while they build their mail centres!) have no intention of delivering a letter from Land's End to John O'Groats at all, least of all for thirty-odd pence! Will you be the first to complain when you get charged £1.00 to have a letter delivered to the other side of your town? They will pay less and charge more, depend on it. You will no longer have postmen with 'The knowledge' or who will give a toss either; you will begin to get all the mail your postman intercepts - wrongly addressed, previous occupants, next door's mail, the next street's mail... and will also not get the mail numbered 18 or 16 instead of 1B or 1b; 356 instead of 365 until the next day or six - that's if nos. 18, 16 and 356 decide to put it back in DHL's, TNT's or UK Mail's postbox at all. You may find you're getting that sort of thing happening anyway but that's because postmen from other offices and/or casuals are brought in to deliver mail due to staff shortages (or of course your regular postman is a tosser!)

In short, unless you are, or have been, a postman please keep your union-bashing opinions to yourself! We postmen are the union and we know what's going on! :angry:

 

[TyphooToffee]

Although I appreciate the position you are in and think you guys are getting a hard time, people who work in a job to serve the people (firemen, police, doctors nurses etc) shouldn't be allowed to strike.

Sorry if that annoys you, but its just my opinion.

Postmen of course the least important of those, but by you guys striking you are [Poor language removed] up the working lives of millions of people and thousands of business' or am I way off the mark in the impact it will have?

Yep, poor old Barclays et al will have to charge even more per letter when you go 1p overdrawn - my heart bleeds for them!

 

[Piijt]

We showed the world how it was done and then [Poor language removed] it all up.

Then again the whole country is [Poor language removed] up in my opinion which is why I am not there and off to get pissed around the pool now..! The weekend starts here

 

[chicoazul]

Pete. Im with you on that mate.

Good luck and [Poor language removed] them over.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

So your job isn't perfect? Whose is? When I ran my own business I regularly worked 60+ hours a week, if I didn't work, I didn't earn. I didn't get the cushy pensions that public sector workers have. I didn't get the opportunity to retire earlier than everyone else. I wasn't a 'key worker' so didn't get preferrential treatment with housing. I chose the job however so have no right to complain when things are tough.

Postal workers received a £1,000 bonus last year, I didn't hear the CWU complaining then. Quite how it can demand a 27% pay increase whilst maitaining a straight face is beyond me. The CWU need to wake up and smell the roses. With more and more people communicating electronically it might not be too long before a large number of their members are out of work.

Pay isn't dictated by bully boy tactics, it's dictated by the market. If RM aren't paying enough, go to one of the commercial rivals. If they aren't paying any better then perhaps its time to accept your lot as a postie or change profession.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Anyway, I'm out. Political debate can get quite tetchy, I've said my piece so will leave you guys to it. I don't want to fall out with fellow blues.

 

[TyphooToffee]

Anyway, I'm out. Political debate can get quite tetchy, I've said my piece so will leave you guys to it. I don't want to fall out with fellow blues.

Me neither. I've run my own business before and have done the 60+ hours so know what it's like. I prefer to let someone else get the customers and sort out the tax now. All I'll say in parting is that Allan Leighton was on the board at Leeds Utd and Adam Crozier was the man who employed Sven. Enough said.

And with that England take the Windies' sixth wicket!