Question for Martin Walsh

[thedonkey]

What does 'reduced mail volumes' mean....

I am delivering a tonne of mail.
I swear that whenever 'mail is down' is said - they are simply talking about a specific type of letter like a bank statement / bill.

Back in the days when people used bikes they only had a 2 hour delivery span. They didn't have any parcels.
Back in those days everybody got a gas bill, an electricity bill, a credit card bill, a telephone bill and everyone paid by cheque effectively doubling the amount of mail. 4 bank statements every year, now that has largely disappeared and probably will totally in the next couple of years. Fewer people receive the Radio Times.
My delivery span has more than doubled yet the number of letters hasn't.

Catalogues have increased but I doubt if they have a long term future. I deliver Damart catalogues but never any for BooHoo or Pokemon. As the older generation die off so will the catalogues.

So while you might think you are delivering tonnes of mail it isn't anything like it was. When people say mail is down it isn't because they don't count DSA or only count bank statements, it is because the mail is down. Anyone who thinks otherwise is deluded.

I think we need to clarify how Mail is defined in the statements issued by RM and how we as foot soldiers define the phrase.

The old boys in my rural office consistently go on about how back in the day the mail coming out to the office from the mail centres consisted of about 4 bags of mail and 2 bags of packets. Staffed consisted of 2 full times 2 part times using 2 vans 1 bike and a walk. In my time at RM the quantity of mail heading out to our office has always been a Partner sized van rammed with bags of parcels and packets and on average between 20 and 30 boxes of mail. Currently staffed by 3 full timers about to be reduced to 2. Due to housing developments there has been an increase in delivery points.

The number of stamped or franked mail has dropped but the amount of advertising mail has more than doubled and obviously parcel and packets have increased exponentially.

Only thing that the board consider is profits and are happy to push more and more work on fewer and fewer workers the physical and emotional and family consequences for the employee is of no consequence to them. If as I read they can not afford redundancies expect managers to deliberately target people with performance and conduct codes as a means of reducing staff and payouts.

[thedonkey]

When, why and how did the CWU tear up the Agenda for Growth?

The Agenda For Growth was basically about industrial stability. It contained legal undertakings by the company that would only remain valid if the CWU didn't call for any industrial action.
When the strike ballots went out the legal undertakings became null and void.

So ineffective we agreed a no strike clause to preserve our t&Cs.
Did the union not understand and not remind its members of this when issuing the ballot?
What a cock up.

[clashcityrocker]

I think we need to clarify how Mail is defined in the statements issued by RM and how we as foot soldiers define the phrase.

Letters are down.

[thedonkey]

I think we need to clarify how Mail is defined in the statements issued by RM and how we as foot soldiers define the phrase.

Letters are down.

Letters are down but mail volumes are up. A rather disingenuous arguments for RM to be selective in what they quote.

[kazardaimenu]

Letters are down but junk mail is up and all sorts off Ebay are up. Plus houses are up in some areas.

[TopperGas]

What does 'reduced mail volumes' mean....

I am delivering a tonne of mail.
I swear that whenever 'mail is down' is said - they are simply talking about a specific type of letter like a bank statement / bill.

Back in the days when people used bikes they only had a 2 hour delivery span. They didn't have any parcels.
Back in those days everybody got a gas bill, an electricity bill, a credit card bill, a telephone bill and everyone paid by cheque effectively doubling the amount of mail. 4 bank statements every year, now that has largely disappeared and probably will totally in the next couple of years. Fewer people receive the Radio Times.
My delivery span has more than doubled yet the number of letters hasn't.

Catalogues have increased but I doubt if they have a long term future. I deliver Damart catalogues but never any for BooHoo or Pokemon. As the older generation die off so will the catalogues.

So while you might think you are delivering tonnes of mail it isn't anything like it was. When people say mail is down it isn't because they don't count DSA or only count bank statements, it is because the mail is down. Anyone who thinks otherwise is deluded.

Out of interest how many employees did RM have when bikes were used, as the OP suggests I find it hard to be letters have dropped off a cliff, who was delivering all these letters if the rounds were only half the size?

[neviboss]

My D.O has 40 walks in it, in the last 18 months /2 years we have had 2 new large estates go up, with 5 partially built, and 2 more that have the foundations laid. Plus one has just been signed off for work to commence next year, and we have a massive industral warehousing complex being built, yet we have to lose some hours from the office?

[zz666]

According to the telegraph rm have a £1.7b war chest to defeat the Union.

[walthmstowman]

When, why and how did the CWU tear up the Agenda for Growth?

The Agenda For Growth was basically about industrial stability. It contained legal undertakings by the company that would only remain valid if the CWU didn't call for any industrial action.
When the strike ballots went out the legal undertakings became null and void.

So ineffective we agreed a no strike clause to preserve our t&Cs.
Did the union not understand and not remind its members of this when issuing the ballot?
What a cock up.

I think you're putting the cart before the horse . It was Royal Mail who ripped up all our national and local agreements . One of the many reasons why we're on strike is because Royal Mail ,having torn up our agreements came after our terms and conditions . We're now being forced to try and defend them .

[Gasman11]

Hang on i thought RM was losing £1 million a day, where's this £1.7 billion come from??

[LouBarlow]

When, why and how did the CWU tear up the Agenda for Growth?

The Agenda For Growth was basically about industrial stability. It contained legal undertakings by the company that would only remain valid if the CWU didn't call for any industrial action.
When the strike ballots went out the legal undertakings became null and void.

So ineffective we agreed a no strike clause to preserve our t&Cs.
Did the union not understand and not remind its members of this when issuing the ballot?
What a cock up.

I think you're putting the cart before the horse . It was Royal Mail who ripped up all our national and local agreements . One of the many reasons why we're on strike is because Royal Mail ,having torn up our agreements came after our terms and conditions . We're now being forced to try and defend them .

The first strike was over pay. By striking we ripped up the agreements. They had only planned change beforehand. Now they can ram executive action through and make good on these plans.

[Eduardo]

According to the telegraph rm have a £1.7b war chest to defeat the Union.

Do you have a link you can use to highlight this point?
Thanks.

[49erman]

According to the telegraph rm have a £1.7b war chest to defeat the Union.

Do you have a link you can use to highlight this point?
Thanks.

Yea I saw that but have to be subscribed to read it…….

[Gasman11]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/20 ... ss-picket/

[Murdoch]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/20 ... ss-picket/

Chairman Keith Williams and chief executive Simon Thompson said that they intend to ram through reforms to the business with or without the backing of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), ahead of another round of walkouts in the days before Christmas.

In an interview with The Telegraph, they said that 12,000 postal workers are prepared to cross the picket lines each day - a sixfold increase since autumn - and that the company has built up a £1.7bn war chest to defeat the CWU.

The interview came just hours after CWU general secretary Dave Ward upped the ante on Wednesday evening, describing the Government as a “shower of corrupt b******* in Westminster" as he voiced support for striking nurses.

Royal Mail is pushing through automation that it says is essential for the future of the business, but which the CWU claims will lead to waves of unnecessary job cuts. Workers have been offered a 9pc pay rise which the CWU has so far rejected.

Mr Williams said: “It's an important point which people miss, which is: we have the ability to change.

“The change is going to happen anyway. We'd like to secure the change that we need from the people, which is pretty limited, to give them the 9pc pay rise that's on offer.

“[But] change can happen as a result of the cancellation of the agreements [earlier this year], and will happen regardless of whether there's an agreement with the union or not.”

A wave of strikes has forced Royal Mail to warn that customers should post all their Christmas cards and presents by Friday this week or risk them not arriving in time. Workers walked out on Wednesday and Thursday this week, and will be striking again on Dec 23 and Christmas Eve.

Proposed reforms include Royal Mail’s parcel arm switching to hundreds of freelance “owner-driver” postal workers. Until recently, only a quarter of Parcelforce drivers could be self-employed, but the changes will mean this can be lifted to 100pc, for instance.

Royal Mail expects to rack up losses between £350m and £450m this year.

Mr Williams, a veteran of disputes during his time as British Airways chief executive, said: “Most of that loss is not attributable to strikes. it's actually attributable to the change that you need in the business.

“As you change the business, you're actually improving the business. Yeah, they can be out on strikes, but the strikes are not are not the big element of the loss.”

Mr Thompson said that Royal Mail was determined to ensure that Christmas parcels would be delivered on time, with 2,000 administrative staff dispatched to the front line to help.

Mr Williams said: “We've now got all the accountants and lawyers on the front line delivering post.”

In autumn around 2,000 postal workers were prepared to cross the picket line, a figure that has now swelled to 12,000 members of staff. 

Tempers have flared with the police called in earlier this month amid claims of physical violence and vandalism. One CWU representative is facing accusations of headbutting.

Mr Williams said: “The irony of this one is that because it's Christmas, the parcels market holds up nicely.”

But the strikes did impact on the letters business, he added. A quarter of Royal Mail’s letter volumes are typically delivered in December. “They [the CWU] are actually destroying Christmas cards, which are letters, which is what they're trying to preserve.”

The CWU will ballot its 115,000 members at Royal Mail for another six-month mandate to strike in January.

Mr Williams said: “What they're saying is that we're threatening 25,000 compulsory redundancies. It is nothing more than a scaremongering tactic going into the next ballot.”

Meanwhile he sprang to the defence of Mr Thompson, who Mr Ward has attacked for being “out of his depth” as CWU members held placards saying “Thompson out”.

He said: “If you look at the history of this one, it was [ex-CEO, Adam] Crozier out. Moya [Greene] out. Rico [Back] out. And now it’s Simon [Thompson] out. There’s a fact pattern here of playing the man not the ball.”

Mr Thompson added: “I am representing the voice of the customers. So is it ‘customers out’ when they say ‘Thompson out’?

“I don't think it is nice. And I don't think it's necessary. But I think more fundamentally, it diverts us away from what are the real true issues.”