who else would…

[Fab Foodie]

Excellent post, the job I had before my current one was a HGV driver working for an agency. The amount of full time drivers that moaned and bitched was staggering where I worked.

Some people really don't know how lucky they are to have a full time job - let alone one with good pay and benefits.

Agreed.
One place I worked at, the truck drivers were part of a union, they were extremely well rewarded and held the company to ransom more than once... in fact once too many and they killed the goose that laid the golden egg. I shared an office with the Transport manager, constant union 'Issues'made their position untennable.
It's all agency/contactor driven now...

 

[Norm]

I was quite shocked when I saw a quote from Billy Hayes saying "I'm stronger than Scargill". Shocked because I didn't think that many would see Scargill as anything other than a politician who lost, shocked because I wouldn't see Scargill as someone worth measuring up against but mostly because I'd completely forgotten that man's name until I saw it in the paper.

I know little about the details of this dispute. From what I've seen, the CWU seem to be hell-bent on destroying the Royal Mail. Customers seem to be deserting in droves, some finding alternative methods of communication, others finding alternative suppliers of snail mail.

 

[gbb]

I must object to this sweeping description of postal staff.
The ones who deliver mail to me are all polite friendly and efficient, and show intelligence and a willingness to ensure I get my mail asap when the item is too big for the letter box and I am not at home.

Sorry maggot, i agree with snorri.
Mate of mine is a postie....the most normal, down to earth, decent ordinary bloke you could wish to meet. They've been shat on from a great height for some years now. Its getting to the point where they virtually have to run to meet their targets now....RM have buggered about with every aspect of working conditions for so long now...he's glad his retirement is coming up.

On another tack..i was talking to my dad earlier this evening about whether the strikes really justified. 99% of us are making judgements on the strike without actually knowing jack sh1t about what being imposed, is it really neccessary, is it riding roughshod over the workers, are the workers just being belligerent ?...very few member of the public actually know.

I 'm not making judgements on this one....i listen and watch, and what i see on the TV is RM spokesmen and management refuse to answer direct questions and simply tell us how they're trying to look after the customer. Its classic propaganda.

 

[rich p]

. But Oxford Sorting office is one of the most militant in the country. I have no time for them frankly. .

Brilliant!!!

 

[alecstilleyedye]

indeed, gbb. i'd happily, as a strong cyclist, take one of their bike rounds and provide an objective opinion of whether the target time was reasonable. i suspect the answer would be negative, so in some sense the union have less to worry about, as the army of people filling in for them will all be fired after a week anyway…

 

[gbb]

I was quite shocked when I saw a quote from Billy Hayes saying "I'm stronger than Scargill". Shocked because I didn't think that many would see Scargill as anything other than a politician who lost, shocked because I wouldn't see Scargill as someone worth measuring up against but mostly because I'd completely forgotten that man's name until I saw it in the paper.

I know little about the details of this dispute. From what I've seen, the CWU seem to be hell-bent on destroying the Royal Mail. Customers seem to be deserting in droves, some finding alternative methods of communication, others finding alternative suppliers of snail mail.

Depends on who you're listening to i guess. I use RM quite a bit for ebay. My local PO tell me ebay is the best thing that ever happened to RM in recent years. His business is booming because of it. While i was there, he showed me a pile (maybe 30 or 40 jiffy bags)...thats todays lot, he said. Never used to be like that...just the odd letter and bills, car tax etc etc.

Snail Mail...i know it can occasionally be, but i've sold, and sent a few hundred items via RM....very rarely has an item been lost or late.

I agree customers may desert if viable delivery alternatives can be found. Thats where the danger lies for RM....and ultimately for the workers themselves.

 

[yenrod]

take a job as a cycling postie while the proper ones are on strike?

as i'm not working at the mo i'd be tempted, even though i do sympathise with the strikers. just as long as i could ride one of those pashley posts…

Alec - money runs the world you dont need me to tell you - all the best mate!

 

[alecstilleyedye]

wiggle are using shitty link. on that score, rm can sleep easy…

 

[Fab Foodie]

Brilliant!!!

Didn't notice!

 

[alecstilleyedye]

Alec - money runs the world you dont need me to tell you - all the best mate!

cheers fella

 

[Norm]

Depends on who you're listening to i guess.

That and what you wrote above are correct. As I said, I don't know the details, just the superficial stuff, which could well be why the CWU is on the back foot. All we see is the results of their actions, we don't know whether there have been years of management issues which have gone before.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

But Oxford Sorting office is one of the most militant in the country. I have no time for them frankly. I think this is a case where the union leadership is slowly selling its members down the river and part of their problem is that there is little public or importantly industry support for their plight.

Might be new and tough for a lot of the country but as FF notes here in Oxfordshire it's water off a ducks back - the main sorting office in Oxford only need to get wind of trouble anywhere in the country and they're out. Our local posties in Chippy despair of them.

 

[postman]

19,207 who want the benefits the Union are trying to get them .But not prepared to bite the bullet to help.

I have been there on the picket line.Do you actually think they really need this aggro'.

They need their wages each week.But this is the last straw.It's been downhill since the brilliant sort it out once and for all document .THE WAY FORWARD 2000.

34 years i was there.But by 2006 i had had enough.So when out of the blue we got offered EVR 112 applied for 25 leaving places.
The money was too good to resist.
And read agency staff for casuals.It's been going on for years shipping staff in on short term contracts.Crap training and people who did not want to be there.
Some of them totally bone idol .
But this will be the turning point.Because they allways go back skint and still working the conditions RM want.
They will be starved back.Tails between their legs.
But the damaged will be done to RM .Financial ruin and Privatisation on the cards.

 

[mr Mag00]

well i have applied as one of the 100,000 for a temp role, call me what u like i need to keep my house!

 

[postman]

A good PR stunt Saying 110,000 have applied for posts.When there are millions of letters stuck in a back log.
How do they pick out the letters with the forms in .
Unless it's done online.And knowing how everything is done on the cheap i am surprised it's not crashed.
But good luck to you anyway.And be prepared to be amazed at the incompetence of the whole job.

You won't believe it.And if you are going for a delivery job make sure you are prepared to use your own car.