Alastair Cochrane - An extra 3,000 posties a year?

[postslippete]

On the robin app, Alastair Cochrane says that RM are investing over £500 million over 5 years, with £100 million a year being equivalent to 3,000 posties on the ground. However, he also explains this isn't necessarily 3,000 new recruits, but largely the equivalent of 3,000 FT roles created by increasing the hours of around 6,000 existing part-time colleagues.

RM has around 1,200 delivery offices across the UK, so spread evenly that's the equivalent of only 2-3 extra full-time posties per delivery office.

So if that relatively small increase is expected to make such a significant improvement in quality of service, doesn't that suggest many delivery offices have been operating just below the staffing level needed to consistently complete the workload?


Many posties have complained about the overtime ban in our office. A 3% pay increase on my legacy contract before tax is an extra £17 a week and I know many posties were claiming that by working a few hours every day!

[oypostie]

Smoke and mirrors. Royal Mail are making a lot of noise about putting some of the lapsing duties back in but then they expect three people to cover four duties which will remove considerably more staff

[Clappedoutpostie]

£100 million per year would give you 5000 new vans at £20000 a piece. Funny when they make statements like this trying to sound good, it’s not even an investment it’s a cost of doing business.

[TopperGas]

On the robin app, Alastair Cochrane says that RM are investing over £500 million over 5 years, with £100 million a year being equivalent to 3,000 posties on the ground. However, he also explains this isn't necessarily 3,000 new recruits, but largely the equivalent of 3,000 FT roles created by increasing the hours of around 6,000 existing part-time colleagues.

RM has around 1,200 delivery offices across the UK, so spread evenly that's the equivalent of only 2-3 extra full-time posties per delivery office.

So if that relatively small increase is expected to make such a significant improvement in quality of service, doesn't that suggest many delivery offices have been operating just below the staffing level needed to consistently complete the workload?


Many posties have complained about the overtime ban in our office. A 3% pay increase on my legacy contract before tax is an extra £17 a week and I know many posties were claiming that by working a few hours every day!

Our DO is already around 10% understaffed with little signs of being able to fill any of the vacancies!!

Although DM26 is going to lead to postie numbers being cut anyway, so it's baffling how RM can say they are creating 3,000 new rolls whilst cutting roles??

[funkflex55]

On the robin app, Alastair Cochrane says that RM are investing over £500 million over 5 years, with £100 million a year being equivalent to 3,000 posties on the ground. However, he also explains this isn't necessarily 3,000 new recruits, but largely the equivalent of 3,000 FT roles created by increasing the hours of around 6,000 existing part-time colleagues.

RM has around 1,200 delivery offices across the UK, so spread evenly that's the equivalent of only 2-3 extra full-time posties per delivery office.

So if that relatively small increase is expected to make such a significant improvement in quality of service, doesn't that suggest many delivery offices have been operating just below the staffing level needed to consistently complete the workload?


Many posties have complained about the overtime ban in our office. A 3% pay increase on my legacy contract before tax is an extra £17 a week and I know many posties were claiming that by working a few hours every day!

If 6000 staff are given 7 hours extra to full time that's 42,000.

Equivalent of 1135 full time staff, not 3000. That's less than one full timer extra per office. And as stated above Doom26 is about job cuts. Less people employed on more hours and with the ongoing forcing out of old timers, the full.timers on a new contract get paid a similar total to an old contract on part time hours.

It's all bastard PR, spin and lies. RM is reducing staff, reducing service in order to make more millions. So DK can buy 12 more private jets.

[Gary55]

There won't be any redundancies. Can't fill the current vacancies to bring this crap in plus there will be a lot of natural wastage and legacy staff unable to cope

[Newpoet]

I've still not heard anything about going up to full time from 30 hours - is it still a thing? Has anyone heard anything?

[roadrunner bill]

There won't be any redundancies. Can't fill the current vacancies to bring this crap in plus there will be a lot of natural wastage and legacy staff unable to cope

Full time,staff.. will now work 48 hours 10 mins..a week..

At 100 % speed. That's gonna cripple a lot of delivery staff.

[norris9]

Them saying the USO change will 'improve quality of service' is ridiculous when the service is being reduced to 2nd class deliveries every other day.

[funkflex55]

Them saying the USO change will 'improve quality of service' is ridiculous when the service is being reduced to 2nd class deliveries every other day.

In offices that are currently doing ok it is indeed a service cut. In offices where people are getting mail once every week or two weeks in theory it's a service improvement.

The problem is that if an office is already doing badly, getting 3 people to do the workload of 4 probably won't fix the problem of having too much work to do.

[jagger]

There won't be any redundancies. Can't fill the current vacancies to bring this crap in plus there will be a lot of natural wastage and legacy staff unable to cope

Full time,staff.. will now work 48 hours 10 mins..a week..

At 100 % speed. That's gonna cripple a lot of delivery staff.

Can you explain what you mean?
Full time is 37 hours.

[roadrunner bill]

There won't be any redundancies. Can't fill the current vacancies to bring this crap in plus there will be a lot of natural wastage and legacy staff unable to cope

Full time,staff.. will now work 48 hours 10 mins..a week..

At 100 % speed. That's gonna cripple a lot of delivery staff.

Can you explain what you mean?
Full time is 37 hours.

Yes... full time hours are 37....
But you work longer in the week to get week 4 off..

Mon 8 hours.
Tues 8 hours
We'd 8.30.
Thurs 8 hours.
Fri 8 hours
Sat 7.40.

So that's 48.10 mins a week....
Way to much to work...

[TopperGas]

Who came up with this madness? Why would anybody being paid to work 37 hours a week now work 48 hours for the same money? If I work 48 hours now I get paid 9 hours overtime, or nearly 40 hours OT each month, in future I'll just get paid the same wage with no overtime.

That's £100's I'll lose annually unless I agree to work my Saturday's off.

[Jefferson Starfish]

It's been happening for years with people on wally weeks and similar working patterns.

[Sean06]

Who came up with this madness? Why would anybody being paid to work 37 hours a week now work 48 hours for the same money? If I work 48 hours now I get paid 9 hours overtime, or nearly 40 hours OT each month, in future I'll just get paid the same wage with no overtime.

That's £100's I'll lose annually unless I agree to work my Saturday's off.

But you will still get a full wage on your week off guess it suits some people.