USO update - (Not as big as we were promised)

[jessicarabbit]

USO Reform

We met with EP Group last Thursday and they confirmed that given the differences that remain between Royal Mail and CWU on the approach to deploying USO Reform, alongside the need for all parties to now focus on preparing properly for the pending peak period, there will be no further deployment of the USO this year, beyond the existing 35 pilot sites.

The Union believes this is the right decision and represents a pragmatic response from the company to resolving these crucial issues, allowing for further talks to prioritise the need to reach an agreement that deploys a workable and sustainable solution, rather than one that is based on pre-determined and unrealistic savings.

EP Group/CWU Agreement

The decision not to deploy any further USO reform this year also reflects the correct sequencing of the commitments made in section 5 of the EP Group/CWU agreement.

Both parties have now agreed to intensify discussions from next week to resolve all the outstanding section 5 issues.

[Thommo44]

So where labour has been reduced to the level required to meet the reforms, will there be a recruitment programme to get the offices back in a position to meet USO as it stands today? 1 delivery a week doesn’t meet the requirements

[ted_e_bear]

Glad to hear they're going to prepare properly for the pending peak period I was worried it would be the same as all the previous years.

[Duesouth]

The biggest downfall right now as it stands is recruitment. If your out on your own with two walks to cover, it used to be the case of concentrate on parcels and possibly manage a few loops. It was achievable.

Now the focus is on first class mail on top of parcels which seem to be growing year on year and its becoming impossible to cover.

So more Saturdays off is off the table (for the time being) which is a bit disappointing. Staffing levels over the next few years are going to be the same and that needs to change drastically.

[CharlesG]

This was posted on Royal Mail platform that is agreement on USO with CMA (managers union) What are details about this agreement??

—————-
We wanted to update you on discussions with both of our trade unions on the deployment of Universal Service reform.

We are pleased to say that we have reached agreement with Unite CMA on deployment.

Unfortunately we have not yet been able to reach full agreement with the Communication Workers Union (CWU), and we have committed to further intensive talks next week.

All parties remain committed to the deployment of Universal Service reform, but there are a number of outstanding points related to resourcing where unfortunately we don’t yet have agreement.

As we are now in mid-September, it is looking increasingly unlikely that we will reach full agreement in good time for us to roll out many more sites in advance of our busy peak period, which starts in October.

As we have always said, the Christmas peak is the most important time of year for our customers so ensuring a successful peak must be central to our decision making.

We will update you further as soon as we have more detail to share.
——————

[Perseus]

The consequence of this, is that many offices are now being left in limbo, either part of the trial that doesn't work, or DOM's doing their own version of it. The advice is, 'continue as you are".
Not acceptable from the CWU to have led many offices down this path then walk away until the New Year.

[Mr Rush]

So where labour has been reduced to the level required to meet the reforms, will there be a recruitment programme to get the offices back in a position to meet USO as it stands today? 1 delivery a week doesn’t meet the requirements

Seemingly. We've got loads of new starts in the last month. IIRC from one of our 'huddles' it was explicitly stated that there was a recruitment freeze this year, from which it can be deduced was due to the perception that the ODM would be in place by late Summer. This puts the service in a very poor position for this Christmas, perhaps why RM announced they'd be applying a levy on volume retailers to send stuff this year.

[qwerty2]

This was posted on Royal Mail platform that is agreement on USO with CMA (managers union) What are details about this agreement??

—————-
We wanted to update you on discussions with both of our trade unions on the deployment of Universal Service reform.

We are pleased to say that we have reached agreement with Unite CMA on deployment.

Unfortunately we have not yet been able to reach full agreement with the Communication Workers Union (CWU), and we have committed to further intensive talks next week.

All parties remain committed to the deployment of Universal Service reform, but there are a number of outstanding points related to resourcing where unfortunately we don’t yet have agreement.

As we are now in mid-September, it is looking increasingly unlikely that we will reach full agreement in good time for us to roll out many more sites in advance of our busy peak period, which starts in October.

As we have always said, the Christmas peak is the most important time of year for our customers so ensuring a successful peak must be central to our decision making.

We will update you further as soon as we have more detail to share.
——————

So the union are liars as usual

[Patmanposts]

Kick the can of doom further down the road. Try to buy more time in hopes that a literal miracle will emerge to make things work.

In the mean time, the poor posties have to continue with record volumes of parcels, heading into peak and crap weather on the way whilst still wondering if there will be any light at the end of the tunnel.

On a personal note… it has been almost 4 weeks since i left the company and i am so so glad / relieved that i did.

The only thing i took away from working with Royal Mail is a huge appreciation for posties. Hell of an eye opener to say the least. As a consequence, i now make an effort to provide feed back for my postie when i get any tracked delivered. He gets an automatic 10 and some nice comments although if his DO or manager is like mine was then he wont be able to see the comments or who gave them .

I genuinely believe this company is beyond saving in any sensible way. And by sensible i mean enough staff and fair achievable work loads. It’s not going to happen any time soon, if ever…. Oh and also… the CWU are powerless and or incompetent.

[SkiSunday]

Kick the can of doom further down the road. Try to buy more time in hopes that a literal miracle will emerge to make things work.

In the mean time, the poor posties have to continue with record volumes of parcels, heading into peak and crap weather on the way whilst still wondering if there will be any light at the end of the tunnel.

On a personal note… it has been almost 4 weeks since i left the company and i am so so glad / relieved that i did.

The only thing i took away from working with Royal Mail is a huge appreciation for posties. Hell of an eye opener to say the least. As a consequence, i now make an effort to provide feed back for my postie when i get any tracked delivered. He gets an automatic 10 and some nice comments although if his DO or manager is like mine was then he wont be able to see the comments or who gave them .

I genuinely believe this company is beyond saving in any sensible way. And by sensible i mean enough staff and fair achievable work loads. It’s not going to happen any time soon, if ever…. Oh and also… the CWU are powerless and or incompetent.

Sean from processing will be along to put you in your place shortly lol.

[Smoothbackground]

Sean from processing will be along to put you in your place shortly lol.

You’re not even an employee of the business “lol”. At least Sean works for Royal Mail!

[SkiSunday]

Why such a deflector? Always so aggressively defensive lol

[TopperGas]

Shocking to read that Unite have seemingly agreed the ODM proposals when it's clear to every DO employee they are totally unworkable, whatever happened to unions supporting each other? I hope no CWU are now intending supporting their members when it comes to the Brummie bin strike.

As others have suggested this is now the worst of both worlds, DO staffing levels have been reduced in anticipation of the ODM being introduced but now we have to try and deliver peak as usual with reduced staff levels.

[jagger]

Do I work in the only office where the mail is ridiculously low?
Most frames, that have been going out, have about a 30% call rate. The posties are all laughing about it.
A lot of tracked packets, but these are all fobbed off to the DPR drivers in the afternoon.
Can’t see how we will ever make the profits that the new owner is expecting.

[Smoothbackground]

Do I work in the only office where the mail is ridiculously low?
Most frames, that have been going out, have about a 30% call rate. The posties are all laughing about it.
A lot of tracked packets, but these are all fobbed off to the DPR drivers in the afternoon.
Can’t see how we will ever make the profits that the new owner is expecting.

So you and your legacy-contract colleagues are laughing about your minuscule workload and doubtless wasting lots of time, perhaps even being parked up or sat idle for longer than you should be, while your DPR colleagues (doubtless new entrants but also called posties) are swamped with work? If your workload is down, you should be made to take some/all of the tracked for your walk, or given some lapsing or other work to do. It’s this blatant disparity in workload that is causing more than a few of our new-entrants to leave.

Our managers have been pulling up various p*sstakers in our office over the last week, and I particularly like the way they let us all know, whether directly or indirectly, who the culprits are. One of the culprits in particular is so cocksure of himself that he has continued to sit idle for a whole hour in the same location every single afternoon. He is but one of several/many.

The fundamental problem here is fixed duties. If fixed duties were abolished, manpower could be flexibly deployed to where it is needed. The unofficial and approximate rule of thumb used by our managers is that one new-entrant OPG can do the work of two legacy-contract OPGs. That is where I think the savings/profits really occur.