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Newbury Today Forum _ Newbury News _ Postal Strike?
Posted by: Blake Sep 11 2009, 10:24 AM
Has there been a postal strike in West Berkshire?
Posted by: GMR Sep 11 2009, 10:25 AM
Not for many years.
Posted by: dannyboy Sep 11 2009, 10:31 AM
err, October 2007 actually.
Posted by: James_Trinder Sep 11 2009, 10:31 AM
No, but obviously postal strikes elsewhere in the country will affect the delivery of items in West Berkshire because it is a national network. I was expecting a couple of items this week in the post and neither have arrived yet.
Posted by: GMR Sep 11 2009, 10:35 AM
That is what I said.... 2 years ago was many years ago.
Posted by: GMR Sep 11 2009, 10:36 AM
They've probably been stolen.
Posted by: Iommi Sep 11 2009, 11:27 AM
I wouldn't call two, lots.
Posted by: GMR Sep 11 2009, 11:31 AM
Nor would I actually...
Posted by: Andy Sep 11 2009, 12:02 PM
Yes a 24 hour one at Swindon sorting office last week, which I believe effects us since Reading's closed
Posted by: GMR Sep 11 2009, 02:16 PM
If you buy a first class stamp - so that you could get your letter there by the quickest route - and there is a strike are you entitled to get your money back or have it reduced to a second class delivery?
Posted by: Jamoza Sep 11 2009, 02:31 PM
Swindon is in Wiltshire, not West Berkshire, but i see what you mean it will still affect us. Also according to news story the NWN printed a couple of weeks ago, our mail still gets sent to Reading.
Posted by: Darren Sep 11 2009, 03:58 PM
Swindon is one of the main distribution centres. If it gets there and then there is a strike, it won't get out to delivery offices like Newbury. The delivery teams cannot delivery what they haven't got.
Posted by: JeffG Sep 11 2009, 07:16 PM
My usual junk mail arrived today, no problem.
Posted by: GMR Sep 11 2009, 07:21 PM
I got a letter from the Opticians but I couldn't see it
Posted by: On the edge Sep 11 2009, 10:21 PM
Why is that? Are you deaf or something?
Posted by: GMR Sep 11 2009, 10:35 PM
Pardon?
Posted by: lordtup Sep 12 2009, 08:05 PM
A few valid points to be highlighted if I may .
Firstly Newbury's ,West Berks ,North Hants ,South Oxon and Wilt's mail is distributed out of Swindon . This is because of the closure of the mail centres at Reading and Oxford .
Because of a singular lack of planning , this facility has become overstretched to the point of meltdown . Though staff are trying to cope with an increasing workload ( the xmas catalogues etc ) , it is apparent that problems are arising which are not being addressed because of Royal Mail's policy on cost cutting .
I am lead to believe that there is about to be a ballot by the postman's union on a national strike to draw attention to their frustration over issues such as these , which appear to be a national problem , and other cost cutting exercises that are having an adverse effect on quality of service . On top of this they have a chairman and a managing director that are getting the sort of income ( over a £ million / annum ) that most only dream of and you get the idea that things are somehow not quite right .
We all know that the present government want to sell off 40 % of Royal Mail to the private sector in order to " modernise " the industry ,what may be not so widely acknowledged is that an incoming Conservatives policy is to sell ALL of the business as a going concern in order to once and for all remove the last militant union from their hair .
So there you have it . Do you want a postal service that delivers what it is supposed to , or do you want to see it deteriorate into a glorified courier business ?
While you are thinking about it the quality of service goes down and the threat of industrial action grows .
Just like the good old days of the 1970 s eh .
Posted by: dannyboy Sep 13 2009, 10:24 AM
Firstly Newbury's ,West Berks ,North Hants ,South Oxon and Wilt's mail is distributed out of Swindon . This is because of the closure of the mail centres at Reading and Oxford .
Because of a singular lack of planning , this facility has become overstretched to the point of meltdown . Though staff are trying to cope with an increasing workload ( the xmas catalogues etc ) , it is apparent that problems are arising which are not being addressed because of Royal Mail's policy on cost cutting .
I am lead to believe that there is about to be a ballot by the postman's union on a national strike to draw attention to their frustration over issues such as these , which appear to be a national problem , and other cost cutting exercises that are having an adverse effect on quality of service . On top of this they have a chairman and a managing director that are getting the sort of income ( over a £ million / annum ) that most only dream of and you get the idea that things are somehow not quite right .
We all know that the present government want to sell off 40 % of Royal Mail to the private sector in order to " modernise " the industry ,what may be not so widely acknowledged is that an incoming Conservatives policy is to sell ALL of the business as a going concern in order to once and for all remove the last militant union from their hair .
So there you have it . Do you want a postal service that delivers what it is supposed to , or do you want to see it deteriorate into a glorified courier business ?
While you are thinking about it the quality of service goes down and the threat of industrial action grows .
Just like the good old days of the 1970 s eh .
DHL & TNT seems to be pretty good at delivering the post.
Posted by: Blake Sep 13 2009, 11:12 PM
lordtup; you seem to assume the proposed sell off would be a bad move.
I think in fact Royal Mail could do with a good firm dose of commercial reality, mainly, start serving your customers better.
The service has gone downhill rapidly in the past 6 years. I find it hard to believe it could get worse still. It is just left-wing, pinko, fellow-traveller scare mongering and demagoguery as low as Arthur Scargill and Tony Benn.
Posted by: Darren Sep 14 2009, 01:13 AM
Do you honestly think that a fully privatised Royal Mail will be there to deliver the one letter a week to the remote cottage way beyond Donnington Castle, for example?
Privatisation will bring a non-universal fee, reduced deliveries for rural communities, closure of the Post Bus routes, loss of Saturday deliveries, and that's for a start.
In the meantime, feel free to use DHL and TNT. For an item up to 1kg, in the UK, DHL will charge £18.55. makes a first class stamp seem pretty cheap.
You won't miss it until it's gone...
Posted by: Blake Sep 14 2009, 08:53 AM
But where is the proof of your assertions?
They are baseless.
Posted by: user23 Sep 14 2009, 09:08 AM
Privatisation will bring a non-universal fee, reduced deliveries for rural communities, closure of the Post Bus routes, loss of Saturday deliveries, and that's for a start.
Posted by: dannyboy Sep 14 2009, 09:10 AM
Privatisation will bring a non-universal fee, reduced deliveries for rural communities, closure of the Post Bus routes, loss of Saturday deliveries, and that's for a start.
In the meantime, feel free to use DHL and TNT. For an item up to 1kg, in the UK, DHL will charge £18.55. makes a first class stamp seem pretty cheap.
You won't miss it until it's gone...
DHL is owned by Deutsche Post, TNT is the Dutch national postal service, which is the point I was making by naming those two companies.
The best thing for the Royal Mail is to get rid of second class mail.
Posted by: gel Sep 14 2009, 10:39 AM
NWN seems to give little coverage to Mail dispute; last week the closed Oxford sorting office had to be reopened because of backlog; apparently was used by Managers to ease the workload.
Oxford's office suffered badly from militancy in past (related to Union activities inherited from car industry), whereas Reading didn't, yet both were closed in name of so called efficiency.
Unfortunately more bad news this morning in Oxford press:
14/9/09
FURTHER delays to postal deliveries today are feared after a weekend walk-out by 70 Royal Mail staff.
Lorry drivers based at the Swindon sorting depot were due to return to work at 4am today after a 48-hour strike.
But Communication Workers Union branch secretary Chris Rye said they would walk out again tomorrow unless national negotiations resolved problems over changing shift patterns.
Union seem **** bent on destroying the service, but it's good they're doing in run up to Labour Party Conference so people remember how unions have held country to ransom in past.
Many people have alternative to using Royal Mail, but we musn't forget those that don't.
The service has gone downhill since the service was opened up under EU Diktat, but afraid we will only see improvement if it's taken out of public ownership, as under current arrangements Royal Mail have to provide a Universal Service (at same fee) whereas DHL etc., don't.
In private sector a company would not exist if it kept raising prices, but gave you less & less.
Any replacement for Royal Mail as we know it, would however have to guarantee that universal service.
Some colleagues in Scotland report they still get 2 daily deliveries, whereas I thought
Royal Mail had dropped everywhere; seems not.
I wonder how many European Countries have ignored the Diktat on opening up their mail services??
I think in fact Royal Mail could do with a good firm dose of commercial reality, mainly, start serving your customers better.
The service has gone downhill rapidly in the past 6 years. I find it hard to believe it could get worse still. It is just left-wing, pinko, fellow-traveller scare mongering and demagoguery as low as Arthur Scargill and Tony Benn.
Posted by: Darren Sep 14 2009, 12:42 PM
They are baseless.
I looked into my crystal ball.
Posted by: Rose8 Sep 15 2009, 12:52 PM
My post has been on a journey to lots of other peoples houses before it decides to pop to see me. And then of course, so i dont feel i am receiving special treatment, other peoples post is visiting me. The other day i had a bank statement (hadnt realised i had changed my name though). And next door got my credit card statement, wonder if they paid it for me. There was also the time when me new PIN number came through for me, however, it decided it wanted to sit in the front garden of one of my neighbours, about 6 doors down !!
Hmmmmmm
Posted by: Chesapeake Sep 15 2009, 01:42 PM
I have to say that I haven't noticed any problems but then again my postie is fantastic.
When my son was only a baby he heard him crying one morning (as they do) and couldn't hear me so he rang the doorbell until I answered just to make sure we were OK. Wow, how great is that. It's a shame that this sort of postman is rare these days.
The only problem is when he goes on holiday and then the other posties have to do his round for him! Obviously not so good.
Posted by: Rose8 Sep 15 2009, 01:46 PM
When my son was only a baby he heard him crying one morning (as they do) and couldn't hear me so he rang the doorbell until I answered just to make sure we were OK. Wow, how great is that. It's a shame that this sort of postman is rare these days.
The only problem is when he goes on holiday and then the other posties have to do his round for him! Obviously not so good.
You are lucky. He sounds lovely. Such a shame the days seem to have gone, when we have the same postie year in year out, when we would leave the xmas card out for him etc ... Hopefully you get to 'keep your postie' for many years to come.
Posted by: Chesapeake Sep 15 2009, 02:20 PM
Oh God I hope so. We did have a temporary postie who was older and used to ride a bike very precariously. One day I was driving home and out of the corner of my eye I saw him cycling along a path next to a wall. I looked over towards him just as he toppled sideways, with bike, over the wall. I couldn't believe it! I stopped the car and ran over to see him upside down, lying on the grass next to the wall with the bike still between his legs! i have never seen anything SO funny. He saw me and quickly jumped up and brushed himself down. I asked if he was ok and he assured me he was. As he cycled away around a corner he almost fell off again!
A couple of days later I saw him outside our house wobbling really badly on his bike and again he almost fell over. Mr husband said that he had also witnessed him falling off his bike on another occasion just outside our house..
It was a real dilema for me as I could not decide if I should ring the post office with my concerns for his safety and risk him losing his job or just ignore it. I only saw him for a couple of months and have not seen him since so I do hope that he is OK.
Posted by: Rose8 Sep 15 2009, 02:26 PM
A couple of days later I saw him outside our house wobbling really badly on his bike and again he almost fell over. Mr husband said that he had also witnessed him falling off his bike on another occasion just outside our house..
It was a real dilema for me as I could not decide if I should ring the post office with my concerns for his safety and risk him losing his job or just ignore it. I only saw him for a couple of months and have not seen him since so I do hope that he is OK.
Blimey
..... after reading that, i guess we should be thankful he wasn't in charge of a Post Van !! I hope he had a helmet on - sounds like he needed it !! Brilliant.
Posted by: Chesapeake Sep 15 2009, 02:48 PM
..... after reading that, i guess we should be thankful he wasn't in charge of a Post Van !! I hope he had a helmet on - sounds like he needed it !! Brilliant.
I just wish that I'd caught it on camera/phone (my, how things have changed) just to prove to people that it actually happened.
Posted by: Hugh Saskin Sep 15 2009, 03:02 PM
My local postman is fantastic, too, and a very kind bloke. Not sure what's going on with the post at the moment though, as a little parcel sent to us from Middlesborough on the 8th (last Tuesday) has only just been delivered today (15th). It was sent second class but the service is normally much quicker than that.
Posted by: JeffG Sep 15 2009, 03:04 PM
Have you seen the latest Specsavers ad featuring Postman Pat?
Posted by: Rose8 Sep 15 2009, 03:14 PM
Oh blimey YES !!!!! That ad is hilarious
Posted by: lordtup Sep 15 2009, 07:14 PM
Seems to me that most people are pleased with the service of their postman , if not the service of Royal Mail .
The obvious answer is to replace the present management system with one that fits the requirement of the customer .
A correctly run company will not only meet the needs of the people it serves but by having a healthy balance sheet it will instill confidence in it's workforce so as to stifle the militant element .
Anyone fancy a fat cat job ? ( pun intended )
Posted by: Hugh Saskin Sep 15 2009, 07:37 PM
When anyone mentions privatisation, it might be as well to remember how much Britain's railways are now costing us under the private sector - most agree that it is at least three times as expensive in real terms to the taxpayer as it was under BR. So much for the entrepreneurs like Beardie Branson and his mates, who have taken Joe Public to the cleaners, and will continue to do so.
Posted by: lordtup Sep 15 2009, 08:01 PM
Another case of the old boys club looking after their own . Branson wanted a train set so we ( the tax payer ) gave him one .
To hades with the efficiency of the thing as long as our mates are ok .
Posted by: dannyboy Sep 16 2009, 10:09 AM
The old BR was a paragon of efficiency. BR regularly had management from other national train opperators visiting the UK to see how it was possible to run a national rail network on so little cash.
I think the other problem in the UK is the size of the country - with modern cars it is easier to drive than take the train. Continental Europe is slightly different - a trip from La Coruna to Barcelona isn't an easy drive, taking many hours. Wheras it is quite a pleasant overnight train journey. We just don't have enough 'long haul' train routes in the UK to make the train a favourable option. Restricting the Chunnel to a few locomotives was another big mistake.
Posted by: Hugh Saskin Sep 16 2009, 05:01 PM
For once, I totally agree with you. It was said in the 1980s that BR was the most efficient railway in Europe when it came to the taxpayer's subsidy. Just look what you've got now
Posted by: GMR Sep 16 2009, 06:16 PM
I sent a letter to someone in Devon last Monday and they only got it yesterday. And it was first class.
They are talking in the papers that people could be in trouble with late mail; i.e. owing money.
Posted by: Strafin Sep 16 2009, 06:25 PM
We used to have a postman who after a year we gave a card and small gift to at Christmas, we got a card from him every year after that, but he always spelled the road name wrong on our address I don't know if it was his little joke or not.
Posted by: Blake Sep 17 2009, 09:12 AM
I am looking forward to the Royal Mail's privatization.
I hope the owner de-unionises the staff. From what I hear, they sound like a bunch of pinko zealot Tony Benn style dinosaurs.
There will I am sure be caveats to provide services to rural areas. We can have our cake and eat it but only if the service is privatized.
Posted by: Darren Sep 17 2009, 12:10 PM
Interesting you say that as Tony Benn was Postmaster-General 1964-1966. Even today he is a strong supporter of a Nationalised Post Office.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/oct/11/comment.post
From Wikipedia
"In the 1964 Government of Harold Wilson, he became Postmaster General; during his time in that position, he oversaw the opening of the Post Office Tower, and the creations of the Postal Bus Service and Girobank. He proposed issuing stamps without the Sovereign's head, but this met with private opposition from the Queen. Instead, the portrait was reduced to a small profile in silhouette, a format that is still used on stamps today"
Posted by: Iommi Sep 17 2009, 01:06 PM
Yes, with their foreign call centres, cheap imported labour that has no clue of where anywhere is, a steady decline in rural area access (as is being done at the moment to make the company more 'saleable') and a never ending spiralling cost of postage. Meanwhile, the fat cat owners are sailing down to the Med to watch the Monaco Grand Prix... can't wait.
Posted by: Blake Sep 17 2009, 01:19 PM
You have a very cynical and pessimistic view on the prospect. I see the glass as half full, not half empty. I think it is a certainty that the service will become private. Even lefty extremists like Peter Mandelson are in favour of such.
Posted by: JeffG Sep 17 2009, 01:31 PM
Odd that. I always thought him to be pretty far to the right of the Labour party. But anyone who can mistake mushy peas in a northern chippie for guacamole can't be all bad
Posted by: Rose8 Sep 17 2009, 04:27 PM
I don't know if it was his little joke or not.I can see the funny side of that (whether he did it on purpose of not), either way .... funny. Oh to have posties like that still eh.
Posted by: Darren Sep 17 2009, 05:16 PM
They are still out there, but most the ones from my time have retired now.
Posted by: Hugh Saskin Sep 17 2009, 07:08 PM
Yeah - just like the politicians told us about the great benefits that railway privatisation was to bring. Odd that, now, you can't find anyone who will say it was a cracking good idea.
Posted by: Hugh Saskin Sep 17 2009, 07:32 PM
I hope the owner de-unionises the staff. From what I hear, they sound like a bunch of pinko zealot Tony Benn style dinosaurs.
There will I am sure be caveats to provide services to rural areas. We can have our cake and eat it but only if the service is privatized.
Just seen this - exactly what the proponents of railway privatisation said would happen. In reality, we're stuck with a monster. All the old cobblers about competiton and the benefits that would bring us. 12 years on - who else is running a train service to London???
Posted by: lordtup Sep 17 2009, 07:40 PM
I hope the owner de-unionises the staff. From what I hear, they sound like a bunch of pinko zealot Tony Benn style dinosaurs.
There will I am sure be caveats to provide services to rural areas. We can have our cake and eat it but only if the service is privatized.
Be wary of what you wish for . If the government can't control what is , ostensibly , still a treasury run function what chance once a foreign ownership takes over . Services will certainly suffer , particularly in rural areas .
Militancy amongst the workforce is symbolic of weak management not some conspiracy theory relating to power mad individuals .
Royal Mail's problems stem from a lack of vision in a changing communications world , and until they put someone in charge who can run a large company as opposed to being an old school friend of the minister , they will continue to have a union lead problem .
As in most things the prognosis is sound , the treatment ambiguous .
Posted by: Iommi Sep 17 2009, 09:00 PM
Notwithstanding that the RM was for a long time a massive cash cow. Unfortunately, the RM (GPO) couldn't reinvest for monopoly type reasons.
Posted by: Darren Sep 17 2009, 09:23 PM
Royal Mail has a problem. It's business model is still very much the same as when created over 300 years ago - deliver letters and packets to any point in the UK for the same price regardless of distance. This makes selling it off much more difficult.
Compare that to BT which was rapidly sold off (along with the rest of the family silver) in 1984. BT has gone from strength to strength as the telecoms sector has become more important.
Posted by: Iommi Sep 17 2009, 09:32 PM
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article6284971.ece BT, the telecoms giant, said today it will cut another 15,000 jobs over the next 12 months after making a full-year loss of £134 million due to continuing problems within its Global Services division.
http://www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com/Article/2269886/BT-loses-lead-to-Telefnica-in-UK-market.html?POS=1174484 Spanish giant Telefónica is now the largest provider of telecommunications in the UK, according to figures from the regulator, Ofcom. The incumbent, BT, has sunk to second place in terms of connections
Posted by: Darren Sep 17 2009, 09:55 PM
There's more to a business than money. How many posting on here use a BT for their broadband?
Many of the engineering jobs have gone because equipment is now much more reliable than the old Stowger switches of years ago, along with improved remote management. The weak link is the physical cable that get dug through blown down.
Ultimately, Royal Mail relies on a small army of people to walk up and down the path of each house in the UK. Unless of course you want to start collecting your mail each day?
Posted by: Strafin Sep 19 2009, 07:44 AM
I suspect everybody because they have the monopoly, maybe not anyone who's on Virgin fibreoptic though.
Posted by: Darren Sep 20 2009, 05:02 PM
No they haven't.
Cable and Wireless
Global Crossing
Both have nationwide high speed, high capacity fibre networks. They have just chosen to to open them up to the household consumer. Not to mention Kingston-upon-Hull
BT has had to introduce LLU to increase competition on the house to junction box leg.
The UK could have had one of the worlds best internet networks if it wasn't for Government interfering in the 1970's. BT offered to build a full fibre-to-the-house network but were refused because of competition worries. Were are now paying for that folly along with the decision of some bright spark in the DTI who ruled that copper was too expensive and to use aluminium instead, despite aluminium being a much poorer conductor.
Posted by: lordtup Sep 20 2009, 06:34 PM
Cable and Wireless
Global Crossing
Both have nationwide high speed, high capacity fibre networks. They have just chosen to to open them up to the household consumer. Not to mention Kingston-upon-Hull
BT has had to introduce LLU to increase competition on the house to junction box leg.
The UK could have had one of the worlds best internet networks if it wasn't for Government interfering in the 1970's. BT offered to build a full fibre-to-the-house network but were refused because of competition worries. Were are now paying for that folly along with the decision of some bright spark in the DTI who ruled that copper was too expensive and to use aluminium instead, despite aluminium being a much poorer conductor.
Another example of pillocks in high places
Posted by: Hugh Saskin Sep 20 2009, 06:53 PM
http://www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com/Article/2269886/BT-loses-lead-to-Telefnica-in-UK-market.html?POS=1174484 Spanish giant Telefónica is now the largest provider of telecommunications in the UK, according to figures from the regulator, Ofcom. The incumbent, BT, has sunk to second place in terms of connections
Anyone else remember those simple days when we dialled 192 and used directory enquiries? Came the sell offs, the rip offs, and now we are left with the spiv outfits that charge us dear for what used to be a free service
Posted by: Strafin Sep 20 2009, 07:49 PM
I'm happy to be corrected but wasn't 192 a bigger rip off than all the news ones which is why directory enquiries were opened up in the first place?
Posted by: Hugh Saskin Sep 20 2009, 07:53 PM
Directory enquiries were free before BT got sold off, sounds hard to comprehend now
Posted by: lordtup Sep 22 2009, 06:17 PM
My informer on the inside as it were has told me that the postal workers union has now balloted for industrial action , what he couldnt enlighten me with was the reason why .
May I suggest we start posting our Xmas cards now
Posted by: Blake Sep 22 2009, 06:45 PM
NO.
Let's do the sane thing and lobby Richard Benyon to privatize Royal Mail next year and sack ALL striking workers.
It's the only sane option.
The posties would soon buck up their (Trotskyite) ideas then.
Posted by: Strafin Sep 22 2009, 07:05 PM
Does anyone know how much postmen get paid? Someone posted on here a while back that they thought the average wage was £24k, I don't know if this is accurate, but I suspect postmen get something nearer half that. I know that they agreed to do the job, and should have worked harder at school and all the other normal arguments stand, but I just think we should consider how much extra would you allow to be placed on your job description, with no extra pay before you started kicking off about it.
Posted by: On the edge Sep 22 2009, 08:28 PM
Quite so! I wonder how much 'extra' the chairman and CEO of the Post Office really did to achieve their bonuses - let alone their salaries. Its not as if they own the firm - they are ALL state employees at the minute.
Posted by: Hugh Saskin Sep 22 2009, 08:34 PM
Think £24k an over estimate, I certainly wouldn't want their job - poor pay, out in all weathers, likely to get bitten by any dog that feels like it, early starts, working Saturdays. All in all, surprised anybody wants to do it, but glad that they do.
Posted by: Andy Sep 22 2009, 08:57 PM
The average salary for a Postman in the UK is:
£21,786
Posted by: Strafin Sep 22 2009, 09:02 PM
Screw them then, wingers!
Posted by: Darren Sep 22 2009, 09:55 PM
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/ereccontent1?catId=16000165&mediaId=16000172
Basic Pay
As a guide, new employees aged 18 and over will receive basic pay of around £256 a week for full-time hours rising to £285 - £311 after 1 year. This rate will be on a pro-rata basis for part-time hours. Higher rates are paid in Inner and Outer London and in some parts of the South East.
Allowances
Some roles may attract shift allowances for working less social hours.
Holiday entitlement
During the first five years, full time employees will be entitled to four and a half weeks’ paid holiday each year, on top of the eight Bank Holidays. They may also ‘purchase’ extra holiday to increase their entitlement up to the six-week maximum.
Posted by: lordtup Sep 23 2009, 07:56 AM
" Low pay is better than no pay " .
I can't think it's only down to pay , must be more to the working conditions . It is after all a working model that hasn't changed since the introduction of the universal service in the 19th century .
When delivery spans took 2 hours followed by a break before second delivery it allowed the cold wet postman to recuperate . Now I am informed that they are expected to stay out there delivering post for 5 hours in all weather conditions .
Bet there are not to many on here who would give up their cosy office jobs for that sort of employment .
Incidentally my postman has a university degree , so I guess he does it by choice .
Posted by: Bloggo Sep 23 2009, 08:08 AM
[quote name='lordtup' date='Sep 23 2009, 08:56 AM' post='9138'] " Low pay is better than no pay " .
I can't think it's only down to pay , must be more to the working conditions . It is after all a working model that hasn't changed since the introduction of the universal service in the 19th century .
When delivery spans took 2 hours followed by a break before second delivery it allowed the cold wet postman to recuperate . Now I am informed that they are expected to stay out there delivering post for 5 hours in all weather conditions .
Bet there are not to many on here who would give up their cosy office jobs for that sort of employment .
Incidentally my postman has a university degree , so I guess he does it by choice .
[/quote
During stressful periods of work in the past when things were grinding me down I often thought what a great job being a postman would be. Out in the open air with no one looking over your shoulder. OK , sometimes it's not so pleasent weather but a pretty decent wage and a great deal of freedom.
I think they should think twice before striking as they may rock the boat to far.
Posted by: TallDarkAndHandsome Sep 23 2009, 08:19 AM
Errr...... In my job I have been given the work of 3 people as they made 2 of my colleagues redundant and told that I could basically like it or lump it. As I work in the Private sector like most people if I were to consider industrial action I would be asked to vacate the premises.... I suspect many other individuals find themselves in similar situations.
What is so special about Posties that they think they are different to average Joe Bloggs?
Posted by: Sarah Sep 23 2009, 08:46 AM
I had a little chat with my postlady this morning and put a few of your points to her.
Firstly she doesn't agree with striking and tells me not many of her fellow postmen do.
She went on to say that she enjoyed her job, in fact far more than her previous one in an office.
She thought the wages were good and she had the added security of a good pension when she retires.
She pointed out that postmen weren't the only ones who worked outdoors, and that she had never spent five hours in one stint in the pouring rain.
I know this is only the opinion of one woman, and the fact that she is a woman may have something to do with it, because most women are used to knuckling down and getting on with the job in hand, unlike their male counterparts.
Posted by: Bloggo Sep 23 2009, 08:59 AM
Ouch!!!! But not from where I'm sitting. Most of them are talking to each other about their hair, children, clothes or shopping.
Posted by: Strafin Sep 23 2009, 05:08 PM
What is so special about Posties that they think they are different to average Joe Bloggs?
How much are you getting paid? And are you managing to complete the work? Do you have a good bonus/benefits package in place?
Posted by: Hugh Saskin Sep 23 2009, 05:23 PM
As a complete stranger looking at things, it would appear that some, if not all, of you must have been grossly underemployed before your mates were given the chop. They must have been really cushy jobs - hope you didn't work for some state controlled outift
Posted by: gel Sep 28 2009, 01:43 PM
Postal strike again tomorrow at our Sorting Office 
From Oxfordshire media 14.00 28/9/09
ANOTHER mail strike will hit Oxfordshire homes and businesses tomorrow.
More than 800 workers at the Swindon sorting office, which has handled the county’s mail since the end of June, will stop work at 4am for 24 hours.
Oxfordshire postal workers also took part in a CWU demonstration at the Labour party conference in Brighton over the weekend.
Paul Garraway, branch secretary of the Oxfordshire CWU, said: “There were about 10 of us and we marched along the seafront.”
Mr Garraway added that he believed any national strike after the ballot closed would start in the week beginning October 12.
:oHe said: “I will be unhappy if we are not on strike. We have waited long enough.”
That last line says it all; hopefully bulk of posties won't agree 
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