Postal Strike? Options

[Hugh Saskin]

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?

Directory enquiries were free before BT got sold off, sounds hard to comprehend now

[lordtup]

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

[Blake]

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.

[Strafin]

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.

[On the edge]

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.

[Hugh Saskin]

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.

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.

[Andy]

The average salary for a Postman in the UK is:

£21,786

[Strafin]

Screw them then, wingers!

[Darren]

http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/ereccon...ediaId=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.

[lordtup]

" 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 .

[Bloggo]

[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.

[TallDarkAndHands...]

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.

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?

[Sarah]

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.

[Bloggo]

II 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.

Ouch!!!! But not from where I'm sitting. Most of them are talking to each other about their hair, children, clothes or shopping.

[Strafin]

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?

How much are you getting paid? And are you managing to complete the work? Do you have a good bonus/benefits package in place?

[Hugh Saskin]

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 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

[gel]

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 .