What the papers say

[Stormproof]

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/b ... 100021.ece

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories ... -19477350/

[IWW Fellow Worker]

Alan Leighton's lacklustre postal modernisation plan amounts to a scaling down of the service ie later deliveries fewer collections and the closing down of rural offices.He is also on the board of several large companies, meaning in effect that he can only give one or two days per week to Royal Mail.
As the highest paid civil servant in history perhaps we could and should expect more from him.
Over 90% of postman withdrew their labour in the recent national strikebut Mr Leighton's press releases have quoted figures of <60%
i hope that when he submits his reports to Gordon Brown he is just as precise and spin free.

Stephen Fisher, Witney, England

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://tinyurl.com/2sndtr

Kintyre’s posties keep up the picket pressure

KINTYRE posties have once again joined in days of action as part of their union’s campaign to defend postal services.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) picketed the Campbeltown sorting office on Friday morning.

It is part of their national camping to stop Royal Mail’s cost-cutting business plan. This will lead, the union believes to cuts in the postal service, increased stamp prices, fewer collections and deliveries and more post office closures.

Royal Mail has been starved of investment for decades,’ said a spokesman, ‘and now faces unfair competition from private operators.’

The union is calling for a government review of the damage caused to the Royal Mail to date, in line with the Labour Party’s manifesto and a change to competition rules. More days of action are planned.

[cruisey]

Posted a have your say on the Times online site. It's the first time they've allowed one on there from me.

[Carnoustie]

Cruisey, I'm detecting a slight shift in tone from the newspaper, with more balanced reporting of the issues. They are at least telling their readers that true competition is not in place, as the cherry-picking rivals don't do deliveries

"The postal group said that it cannot afford to pay more because it is losing business to rival operators who pay lower wages. It argues that competitors now handle one in five of all mail items, although Royal Mail takes them back for the final-mile delivery because rivals do not have a delivery infrastructure."

Is the CWU's side of the argument going to be put across, and newspapers start to do some research into the truth or otherwise of Royal Mail's press releases ? Maybe, just maybe ...

[heapsy]

Cruisey, I'm detecting a slight shift in tone from the newspaper, with more balanced reporting of the issues. They are at least telling their readers that true competition is not in place, as the cherry-picking rivals don't do deliveries

"The postal group said that it cannot afford to pay more because it is losing business to rival operators who pay lower wages. It argues that competitors now handle one in five of all mail items, although Royal Mail takes them back for the final-mile delivery because rivals do not have a delivery infrastructure."

Is the CWU's side of the argument going to be put across, and newspapers start to do some research into the truth or otherwise of Royal Mail's press releases ? Maybe, just maybe ...

Let's hope they do allow the union to put their point across, and dig up a few FACTS cos the way things are being portrayed in some sections of the media ie the BBC, many members of the public are totally in the dark on whats what!

[mailman71]

front page of the dundee evening paper carrying story that shortly people will get their mail 90 minutes later than now .
locals not very happy will this news be spread to other papers this could see a change in public attitude

[IWW Fellow Worker]

front page of the dundee evening paper carrying story that shortly people will get their mail 90 minutes later than now .
locals not very happy will this news be spread to other papers this could see a change in public attitude

Hope so, but my experience was that they will whinge about it to you as you deliver the mail, but the suggestion that they might want to take the complaint in writing to Royal Mail is one that passes them by.

[F0zziebear]

people moan but when you ask for an extran penny.....it all goes quiet. That's part of the problem. More players in the market, and less revenue. Exactly the same thing happened to BT. They lost loads of customers, prices went down, quality of service suffered, especially on customer service and then the market began to mature. You now have lots of new products. Question is will this happen to the postal industry? If you're going to resist change and safe guard jobs then you will need to shift the overall policy on liberalisation and privatisation, otherwise all you are able to do is try and stall the inevitable.

I wish I could be more positive, but knowin the DTI, and RM strategy this ain't gonna happen.

Good luck with the fight

[ROCKY]

http://money.uk.msn.com/investing/artic ... id=5565961

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/n ... alkout.php

From the Bradford Telegraph and Argus

Around 1,000 postal workers in the Bradford area are to mount a series of mass walkouts in the latest series of crippling strikes.

All the region's postal workers will take two days of strike action during the next three weeks.

Parts of the business will be striking on different days in a bid to cause "maximum disruption" to the mail service.
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The proposed industrial action marks a clear escalation in the lengthy battle between Royal Mail bosses and workers over pay and conditions.

Union leaders say their bosses are still refusing to come to the negotiating table.

Paul Clays, regional secretary for the CWU in the North-East, said: "We are taking a more selective approach during the strikes to maximise the impact on the business and make the public realise what is going on.

"It is about time, when the bosses are doing an ostrich impression and burying their heads in the sand and hoping we will go away, for us to carry on the fight."

The action will see a walkout by about 1,000 workers in Bradford on different days over the next two weeks, Mr Clays said.

Workers in Royal Mail sorting offices and cash handling centres will strike this Thursday and on Tuesday, July 31.

Staff at parcel collection centres and postmen will walk out on Saturday, July 28, and Thursday, August 2.

There will also be strikes at four data entry centres across the country, each employing 1,300 staff.

They will be on strike on July 28 and Thursday, August 2.

Airmail services at airports including at Heathrow - Britain's largest distribution centre - will also be disrupted when staff stage a mass walk-out.

Bradford businesses and the public have been warned that the strikes will cause significant backlogs.

Mr Clays said: "This will affect large numbers of people in the Bradford area."

The CWU has claimed huge support for the two 24-hour strikes called so far.

Union bosses say it is unfair that Royal Mail was still insisting it cannot afford to raise its 2.5 per cent pay offer.

That is despite managers pocketing up to £40million in bonuses.

They are also concerned about a so-called modernisation programme, which includes a raft of measures, including 300 mail centres delivering post an hour later.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "This phase of the industrial action amounts to two further 24-hour strikes which hit different Royal Mail sites at different times.

"We are currently assessing the likely impact on mail services.

"We have well-developed contingency plans in order to reduce the effect of the strike and keep disruption to our customers to a minimum."

[smokerjim]

people moan but when you ask for an extran penny.....it all goes quiet. That's part of the problem. More players in the market, and less revenue. Exactly the same thing happened to BT. They lost loads of customers, prices went down, quality of service suffered, especially on customer service and then the market began to mature. You now have lots of new products. Question is will this happen to the postal industry? If you're going to resist change and safe guard jobs then you will need to shift the overall policy on liberalisation and privatisation, otherwise all you are able to do is try and stall the inevitable.

I wish I could be more positive, but knowin the DTI, and RM strategy this ain't gonna happen.

Good luck with the fight

The signifcant difference I can see is that BT's competitors have a "final mile" delivery system ( for want of better description )at a fair price - they pay for access, BT get the money & neither side is financially challenged - however RM's costs are higher for the "final mile", but that doesn't seem to have been taken into account when DSA payments have been calculated & if that continues ( knowing how anti-RM Postcomm is & how glacial the speed it can take Whitehall mandarins to act, it almost certainly will continue ), then it looks as though RMs dark days will last long beyond ALs & AC departure & even then, it will take a natural leader of the calibre of ACM Hugh Dowding or Winston Churchill to bring about any improvements - and I ain't seen anyone like that around Britain of late.

[Stormproof]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.j ... ton122.xml

[chutes]

1st CLASS QUOTE OF THE DAY...."Modernisation doesn't aways result in a cheaper more efficient service it just means those in charge get bigger bonuses. ".........DAMMMM RIGHT ....LETS GET THE POST OFFICE BACK TO A
PUBLIC SERVICE.......

[IWW Fellow Worker]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.j ... ton122.xml

In an interview Hutton said: "There's got to be talking, not striking." He should be telling that pair of spivs, not us.
He's quite the business genius this new Secretary of State. "If you go on with industrial action you're going to hurt the business." Really? Oh well in that case we'd all just better lie down and let Royal Mail walk all over us and thank them for doing so! Bloody nugget!