Vote No to CWU leaders’ pact with Kretinsky: a blueprint for brutal restructuring

[Tman]

Low skill ,,,heard this for years. Yet many dont stick this job .Dont put youreself down, RM will do that for you .

What has "low skill" and employees not lasting long have to do with each other?

[Chelseablue]

It dsnt and not meant to be.

[TopperGas]

Hate this” low skilled “tag that goes around these days,if it’s that low skilled how comes none of these youngsters can handle job and stay more than few months?

Probably because they can't stick at anything and there's always another employer prepared to give them a chance?

Whilst the job can be physically demanding I can't recall any recent staff leaving because they would it mentally to taxing! Let's face it if you can walk 10K+ steps a day, use a mobile phone and have a clean driving license you can do the job.

[FilthyBloke]

When I said “low skilled” it’s not meant as an insult. Like somebody else has mentioned, the job is taxing on the legs more than the mind. It’s a hard working job, even if you are lazy and plod about like you are on a stroll down the beach, you still do the miles. That’s probably why new starters don’t last.
But the tax on the legs used to be compensated by a decent wage and nice early finish.

I used to grab the overtime and would do an extra walk down days on top of my duty and still be finished before noon and get paid for 16 hours.

Even the flexibility of the hours has gone now with van sharing a few htc duties available.

If I was a new starter or even looking for a job I probably wouldn’t look at being a postie as very appealing. My situation now is a lot more secure than it was when I was younger.

The golden years of a postie are long gone… it’s still s decent job, and a good way to keep fit and be outdoors for several hours, but it’s even more taxing on the legs than ever before. The Union has been unable to stop the RM machine.

That being said, I still enjoy the job.

[postmanplod2025]

its no a low skilled job, are u saying a monkey could do it, a lot dont stick it, now with 6 hour walks ,collections, taking mail from other frames people being off sick, having to juggle ur specials to make the times, do different collections boxes from a couple of different walks depending on if ur short staffed, low skilled my arse

[Tman]

How long is the training period?

[richietns]

It is low skilled thats why you could shadow for a week if your in a good office and be set off on your own with a phone if something crops up,but if you were to train as an electrician let's say it takes years of work experience to be set loose on your own,its very physically demanding thats why the wage should be more than NMW.

[FilthyBloke]

its no a low skilled job, are u saying a monkey could do it, a lot dont stick it, now with 6 hour walks ,collections, taking mail from other frames people being off sick, having to juggle ur specials to make the times, do different collections boxes from a couple of different walks depending on if ur short staffed, low skilled my arse

Walking for 6 hours and taking mail from one frame to another isn’t really a skill. Nor is planning which collections boxes to collect from in order.
It’s not as easy job anymore and is physically demanding at times but there is very little else to it.

The only skill I think that is needed is customer service skills.

[postslippete]

Walking for 6 hours and taking mail from one frame to another isn’t really a skill. Nor is planning which collections boxes to collect from in order.
It’s not as easy job anymore and is physically demanding at times but there is very little else to it.

The only skill I think that is needed is customer service skills.

It’s good that you still enjoy the job but modern delivery work in RM is more of a multi-tasked frontline service role. And if the public or the union buys the idea that the job is just simple, unskilled labour then aren't we just giving RM a free pass to keep squeezing more out of workers while paying less? Skill isn’t just qualifications but needs route planning, customer interaction, problem solving, good time management, coping with unpredictable workloads/weather and also dealing with complaints.

[Tman]

[ Skill isn’t just qualifications but needs route planning, customer interaction, problem solving, good time management, coping with unpredictable workloads/weather and also dealing with complaints.

Much like a Costa or MacD employee then?

[postslippete]

Much like a Costa or MacD employee then?

That comparison doesn't make sense as it isn't the same job. They work indoors in a controlled environment whereas we are solo, out in all weathers covering half marathons every day, juggling tracked deliveries, timed deliveries, collections and lockers under time pressure and little back-up.

Drop a burger or sell a cold coffee - you bin it and make another. Drop a Special Delivery or misroute a tracked item and it's a potential conduct code. Keep comparing it to flipping burgers and that is exactly what RM will keep paying us for while piling on more work.

[tramssirhc]

All the CWU adherents in here again attacking working class people, slagging off their jobs as 'low skilled'. There is no such thing as a low skilled job. The terminology 'low skilled' is used to drive down wages. The training period for workers in delivery is 12 weeks and the standards are rigorous. Many workers do not finish the training. Anyone reading this thread will see the CWU loyalists, and lets call them what they are - working class traitors, for what they are. This is yet another reason not to give that awful organisation, the CWU, a penny.

[Smoothbackground]

Trams, you undoubtedly speak some quite a lot of sense, but phrases like “working class traitors” when referring to fellow posties weakens the sensibility of what you are otherwise saying and does nothing except alienate people. Airs, graces and delusions of grandeur aside, the unescapable fact is probably 90% of us on the shop floor have “working class” bona fides. By all means use the word “traitor” to describe the union leadership…

[pieoftheday]

All the CWU adherents in here again attacking working class people, slagging off their jobs as 'low skilled'. There is no such thing as a low skilled job. The terminology 'low skilled' is used to drive down wages. The training period for workers in delivery is 12 weeks and the standards are rigorous. Many workers do not finish the training. Anyone reading this thread will see the CWU loyalists, and lets call them what they are - working class traitors, for what they are. This is yet another reason not to give that awful organisation, the CWU, a penny.

12 weeks? Rigorous?

[SpacePhoenix]

The training in most offices both MCs and DOs will be the basic "ass covering" stuff like the H&S stuff, etc. Then it'll be here's the frame/work area, here's the work, get on with it.