[Update] The Royal Mail strike thread - Page 9

09-10-2009, 21:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by RizzyKing

I used to support many workers that striked but not anymore why simple because i would love a job any job and right now i cannot get one nor at the rate i am going downhill will be in a position to be attractive to any employer. So there are thousands of you with jobs and your not happy and your going to strike right at the time of year you know damn well it will hinder and hurt people most and you want my support dream on. I have already had one specialist appointment cancelled because RM lost my letter and have now binned postal appointments so i never have to miss one again.

Times move on technology is now playing a bigger part in many many jobs and people have lost jobs because of that but you can't stem the tide by spitting out your dummy and striking. As for service my postman on average puts 10-12 letters through my door that are wrong how is that RM's fault it is the individual postman at fault because he doesn't bother to read what he is putting through my door.

We have had parcels stolen and damaged because posite leaves them in plain sight outside no matter what the weather. So please don't tell me it is all nasty RM managements fault because it isn't certain postal workers thought they had a job for life always protected by their powerful union and wollah like many have had to face reality and are being asked to accept things ain't staying the same.

But simple logic (i like simple) says to me company is in trouble needs more money so it's workers go off on strike annoy a vast amount of people who then seek alternatives company loses contracts\trade and therefore has to make more cuts thus kicking off another merry go round of strikes.

I know RM workers don't like hearing it but you are lucky right now to have a job i know many damn good people who are struggling on benefit trying everything they can to get a job so if your really that unhappy and don't like it do yourself a favour do us the public a favour and leave the job. Let someone else take it (they will not have trouble replacing people) who won't moan year in year out about this and that and woe is me.

Because many like me don't support you anymore in fact we're getting sick and tired of hearing about workers striking as well as gaining the uncanny knack of predicting when you will strike because you've done it so many times before..

Pretty much what I said last night, typed better of course...

Osem · 09-10-2009, 21:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZrByte

However, if you and other unhappy customers complain to the people in control i.e. RM and not your postman on the street or venting on an internet forum RM may actually start to care.

Oh I soooooo wish that was true. I've had delivery problems to this address on and off ever since we've lived here (almost 25 years) - basically mail with the wrong address being delivered here and our mail going elsewhere (usually a particular address in a different street because the postie just can't be bothered to check it first. Over the years I've been through the Royal Mail customer services route any number of times and complained until I'm blue in the face but the problem persists. I've also been in contact with Post-Watch many times and they eventually elevated the complaint within RM but each time there's a gap of a few months between issues they basically try to treat it like a totally new new complaint and refer you back to RM even though it's exactly the same problem and often the same people involved.

Domestic customers can't force RM to do anything and Post-Watch had no power to force RM to do anything either so the whole exercise of complaining was a waste of my time and money!

We recently had 2 Recorded Delivery items put through our door without being asked for a signature even though we were in at the time. I contacted Post-Watch hoping to link this event to my last complaint reference so as to avoid having to go through the whole rigmarole all over again... I got a recorded announcement to say Post-Watch no longer exists and referring me to yet another organisation with a nice snappy title (but equally soft rubber teeth when it comes to dealing with RM very probably) - Consumer Focus - I couldn't bring myself to go any further....

papa smurf · 09-10-2009, 22:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ B

I still haven't heard a mass vote of public support yet.

Yes it IS - and that's the very reason the RM choose to disrupt the public, as it causes maximum inconvenience. They hope we'll get annoyed to the point that we'll scream at RM to give the workers what they what. Only thing is it's backfiring.

how so - do you run a mail order business, or are you just very popular ie get lots of correspondence .

Russ · 09-10-2009, 22:02

I can't see how it makes any difference how this affects me. I use the RM a lot and if they won't do the job then I don't mind paying for someone else to do it.

papa smurf · 09-10-2009, 22:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ B

I can't see how it makes any difference how this affects me. I use the RM a lot and if they won't do the job then I don't mind paying for someone else to do it.

i'm just trying to get an understanding of the nature of your problem ie why it affects you in such a big way .

me personally i can work around it. its not as if we don't have other forms of communication /delivery systems .

Flyboy · 09-10-2009, 22:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sirius

Indeed

I can remember as a young lad my father coming home to a freezing cold house during a strike and saying i will never use coal again. He had a gas fire and gas central heating installed within a week and he never did use coal again.

Would not surprise me if the same happens with Royal mail and parcel farce

---------- Post added at 17:37 ---------- Previous post was at 17:31 ----------

10 of us sat around a table at work today during dinner. Only one supported the strike the rest said it was bad for the customer and they had no time for the strikers.

I wonder what they would have said if it was their jobs at risk.

---------- Post added at 22:24 ---------- Previous post was at 22:11 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob M

Well, unfortunately we now live in a society where if you don't look out for yourself nobody else is going to. If you stop watching your own back before you know it there will be some person, or some group of people, shafting you because the only thing they're thinking about is themselves.

So what were the other 'resorts' that they resorted to?

Well in that case you should support the union and their action. The workers are looking out for themselves and hey, whilst there at it, they're looking out for all the workers as well. Now, that's some going, isn't it.

They tried compromising with the management, but the management shafted them. The management have insisted that they work longer hours for less pay and if they won't do it, they will be sacked. So, now the unions are watching their own backs so that the management don't shaft them again because they are thinking about themselves.

jamiefrost · 09-10-2009, 22:33

If Royal Mail is loosing money then they need to be brought into the 21st century.

This includes modern equipment and working practices until the company is profitable. This is no different than any other company why should Royal Mail be treated any different.

JJ

Russ · 09-10-2009, 22:43

Nobody is saying the workers don't have a legitimate reason to be unhappy. What we object to is having our lives and services disrupted when the argument isn't even ours. I can't stand it when some union decides the only way to get what they want is to take it out on silly old Joe Public. I also hate it when the wheel out the "this is a last resort" and "we never wanted to strike" lines. Well boo-hoo boys, no-one's buying it.

Even worse is when they expect support from the very people who are crying out for employment.

danielf · 09-10-2009, 22:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ B

Nobody is saying the workers don't have a legitimate reason to be unhappy. What we object to is having our lives and services disrupted when the argument isn't even ours. I can't stand it when some union decides the only way to get what they want is to take it out on silly old Joe Public. I also hate it when the wheel out the "this is a last resort" and "we never wanted to strike" lines. Well boo-hoo boys, no-one's buying it.

So what are they supposed to do? Bend over and take it up the bum?

**Hugh** · 09-10-2009, 22:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by danielf

So what are they supposed to do? Bend over and take it up the bum?

From the Times today

Quote:

Among their complaints, postal workers are angry about plans for flexible working, a reduction in the number of postmen on bicycles and an increased use of vans

And some FAQ on the BBC website

jamiefrost · 09-10-2009, 23:10

Which part of these modernisation efforts are they striking about?

From the Royal Mail website

• Not working all the hours for which people are paid. A significant number of delivery postmen in some units in London complete their walks up to two hours before their scheduled duty finish each day yet are unwilling to help out with other tasks for the remainder of the working day. The 2007 agreement set out that people should work the hours for which they are paid.

• During the summer when mail volumes are low there is less work to do. By asking each delivery postman simply to deliver to one or two extra streets, some of their colleagues’ summer holidays can be covered without overtime. Many London delivery units refuse to cover additional streets.

• Refusal to work to revised delivery routes generated by computer aided planning, which is used in postal organisations around the world and is aimed at making us more efficient.

• A refusal to accept the use of more part time workers in delivery to enable us to be more flexible and match the workload, even though we have guaranteed that no-one who works full-time will be forced to go part-time.

• In Mail Centres, there are demarcation lines which date back decades - so, for example, Distribution drivers refuse to work in the mail centre even when they have no driving to do but there is work in the mail centre which needs attention

Everyone needs to be more flexable going forward, to get the job done and support their company.

All they are doing at the moment is damaging the buisness from which they will find it harder and harder to recover from

JJ

Russ · 09-10-2009, 23:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by danielf

So what are they supposed to do? Bend over and take it up the bum?

What am I supposed to do? Say "ok they're potentially losing me money as well as reputation on ebay (which could lead to further loss of income) and from other ways I try to make a living but hey, I support them anyway"?

danielf · 09-10-2009, 23:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ B

What am I supposed to do? Say "ok they're potentially losing me money as well as reputation on ebay (which could lead to further loss of income) and from other ways I try to make a living but hey, I support them anyway"?

You could take a chill pill? Presumably most fellow ebayers in your league are in the same situation, so I doubt your reputation will be very much at risk.

Russ · 09-10-2009, 23:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by danielf

You could take a chill pill? Presumably most fellow ebayers in your league are in the same situation, so I doubt your reputation will be very much at risk.

Maybe the RM workers could take a chill pill too instead of going on strike? My income isn't just based on ebay you know.

punky · 09-10-2009, 23:27

Why don't the strikers use work-to-rule?

Probably because the action doesn't **** off the populus enough. Let's face it, even industrial action in the private sector involves screwing the public one way or other by blockading fuel depots or rolling roadblocks.

We will always be inconvenienced because that's the most criticial bit of industrial action