RMCtv : Ricky McAulay : Update on talks with CWU and Dispute Resolution Process

[blacov]

Woody the words Royal Mail have put in writing is to advance their greener operation they would want to withdraw mainland air network and transfer it to rail and road. They also state that they would require later start times and longer delivery spans.

You can spin it all you like but that is from Royal Mail to the CWU in way of a pay offer with strings.

It's alright saying something Martin, it's another thing coming up with a feasible plan to make it work.

Removing the mainland air network is not something the CWU can stop.

This later starts and longer deliveries is a favourite go to place of yours but can you explain exactly what you mean by that, exactly what Royal Mail means by that or how it would be possible to move the core delivery network crashing into the LAT deliveries who rely on the same vans, how collection on delivery could be maintained if the delivery isn't finished by 4/5pm, the impact of running delivery into peak traffic, how you're suddenly going to accommodate our (mostly female) primary child carers if they're now going to still be out delivering after the school finishes, how health and safety would be addressed if we're walking the streets at night in the dark.

Removing the mainland air network is eventually inevitable but it will require a complete redesign and rebuild of the entire network from collection right through to delivery. It's a massive undertaking that would probably require changes in the USO to build the changes in properly.

You can jump every time Royal Mail says boo and pass on that fear to the members to achieve your own goals but the reality is it's not something you can introduce overnight.

Absolutely every single word of this

This is a company that can’t even get revisions correct in offices of less than 30 deliveries and people on these pages think they can completely change how the job has been done over night.

Oh there is no doubt they are incapable and it would be an absolute clusterf*ck, but don’t think for one minute that would stop them. If there is money to be saved for the shareholders it will be attempted. And when it all goes wrong it will be us who gets the blame for it failing.

My point is that if they’ve learned anything from these latest revisions that must have cost them lots of money if my office is anything to go by , then I can’t see it happening.

Also to answer the later starts nonsense, there’ll be lots of people leaving the job if anything like 9-5 or 10-6 comes in and I’ll be the first one.

Absolutely zero work life balance in deliveries for those types of hours.

This would be the tipping point for many many people working in deliveries, including myself. I personally think this is no longer a job for life. The way company is heading. Longer deliveries in order to maximise productivity, new products to deal with. Walking longer with heavier parcels, it all adds up to the physicality of the job. At the same time people at the top seems to ignore the fact, that a person's body can only take damage up to a point. What's going to happen? They will go off sick, no wonder they will do their best to attack this benefit. This company is raking in huge profits but doesn't want to spend on its biggest asset- workforce. If they are not somehow stopped I can see Royal Mail in not that distant future in serious struggle. Huge staff turnover, poor quality of service., unbearable workloads, poor pay. Customers will realise that we are no longer worth paying premium price and will go elsewhere. I can definitely see quality declining gradually. It is already quite below where it was 5-6 years ago.

[2yearpostie]

Nothings changed about working after dark

Apart from seeing things is harder, if your delivering parcels in the dark most houses dont have a sign lit up so you cant find, its more hazardous driving a van at night, risk of theft (hct) higher at night (think london high rise estates) then we get to rurals, try finding a farm in the middle of now where when youve nt done it very often, plus how many customers will want to open thier door in the dark to a stranger so we can take a picture of thier parcel ( which couldnt be seen anyway as its dark)

[Chelseablue]

The problem is the so called guys at the top, dont value is at all , end of.

[clashcityrocker]

The movement away from using air transport can only happen following a change in the USO otherwise there's no way they can maintain a first class service or complete delivery inside the timeframe allowed by the USO.

So is the plan to go to the government with a plan to change the USO based on the removal of planes.
Greener, lower carbon emissions - all that would be met with universal approval and then slip in the removal of Saturday letter deliveries at the bottom.

[tractorboy2]

The movement away from using air transport can only happen following a change in the USO otherwise there's no way they can maintain a first class service or complete delivery inside the timeframe allowed by the USO.

So is the plan to go to the government with a plan to change the USO based on the removal of planes.
Greener, lower carbon emissions - all that would be met with universal approval and then slip in the removal of Saturday letter deliveries at the bottom.

Change 1st class to within 2 days and 2nd class to 4 days , then no need to change start/finish times.

[wallan]

The movement away from using air transport can only happen following a change in the USO otherwise there's no way they can maintain a first class service or complete delivery inside the timeframe allowed by the USO.

So is the plan to go to the government with a plan to change the USO based on the removal of planes.
Greener, lower carbon emissions - all that would be met with universal approval and then slip in the removal of Saturday letter deliveries at the bottom.

Change 1st class to within 2 days and 2nd class to 4 days , then no need to change start/finish times.

One Class Next Day Delivery in the M C Collection / Delivery Area ,Day after the rest ,with the exception of N I, i doubt very little , if any of the present 2nd Cl needs to use Air to achieve Day C Delivery

[norris9]

The problem is the so called guys at the top, dont value is at all , end of.

Exactly, they do not value us at all.

We are your workforce trying to serve yours/our customers daily. We are not your enemies. Treat us with respect. At least pay us fairly in comparison to the national living wage rise.

Also, those at the top....go and walk 10 miles tomorrow with just a 2 minute pause every 20 minutes.... see how you feel at the end of the day just doing that once, then imagine doing it 5 days a week, then imagine doing it with all the other things we do, loading/unloading vans, getting in and out of vans, bending and twisting, straining to put letters through stiff letter boxes, walking up stairways and slopes....

I don't think those at the top understand. They want us to do extra compulsory walking/delivering during certain times of the year. It will be too much.

Can you at least think about offering everyone a 3 or 4 day working week, or something like 4 days off/4 days on schedule.

[Woody Guthrie]

The movement away from using air transport can only happen following a change in the USO otherwise there's no way they can maintain a first class service or complete delivery inside the timeframe allowed by the USO.

So is the plan to go to the government with a plan to change the USO based on the removal of planes.
Greener, lower carbon emissions - all that would be met with universal approval and then slip in the removal of Saturday letter deliveries at the bottom.

I would say that's pretty much exactly what I would do in this situation.

There's no feasible argument anyone can put up against removing the mainland air network other than to protect a pretty much redundant and outdated 1st class service that Royal Mail are failing badly (or deliberately) anyway. Who posts a stamped 1st class letter now relying on it getting there the following day?

Remove that 1st class commitment and all of the huge potential problems with air transport, later starts and connections melt away as do the majority of your QofS issues.

Reading Ofcom's review the removal of Saturday letter deliveries already looks pretty much nailed on.

[Woody Guthrie]

Deliveries used to be done in the dark years ago. What's different about the H&S aspect after dark?

Unfortunately you again show your ignorance of the delivery role.

When we were delivering in the morning, it was dark but getting progressively lighter, cold but generally getting warmer, there was no-one around, no drunks or junkies, no gangs of kids, no dogs and very few vehicles.

It's like comparing crossing a motorway at 3am to crossing one at 5pm. The geography might be the same but the environment is completely different.

I don't have the stats but I'd guess there are far more assaults and robberies at 5pm than 7am. You don't have to be a genius or work in delivery to understand that surely?

[Cedar_Room]

The problem is the so called guys at the top, dont value is at all , end of.

Exactly, they do not value us at all.

We are your workforce trying to serve yours/our customers daily. We are not your enemies. Treat us with respect. At least pay us fairly in comparison to the national living wage rise.

Also, those at the top....go and walk 10 miles tomorrow with just a 2 minute pause every 20 minutes.... see how you feel at the end of the day just doing that once, then imagine doing it 5 days a week, then imagine doing it with all the other things we do, loading/unloading vans, getting in and out of vans, bending and twisting, straining to put letters through stiff letter boxes, walking up stairways and slopes....

I don't think those at the top understand. They want us to do extra compulsory walking/delivering during certain times of the year. It will be too much.

Can you at least think about offering everyone a 3 or 4 day working week, or something like 4 days off/4 days on schedule.

What a fantastic post. Can somebody forward this to Simon & tell him this is how the members of his ‘team’ are feeling,please?!

[adb2aber]

Change 1st class to within 2 days and 2nd class to 4 days , then no need to change start/finish times.

One Class Next Day Delivery in the M C Collection / Delivery Area ,Day after the rest ,with the exception of N I, i doubt very little , if any of the present 2nd Cl needs to use Air to achieve Day C Delivery

It would only need 1st to go to 2-day. No 2nd Class mail goes on a flight anyway (okay apart from to/from islands) it all goes by train/vehicle. Most work from around the country would still come in at the same times and get a 1st class service without affecting times, the time of the vehicle would dictate how much of the remainder got processed. Of course Special Delivery/Tracked24 would need taking into account...

[SpacePhoenix]

@Martin Walsh, do you have a list of the current mainland plane routes (what airports they're between)?

[Martin Walsh]

Woody why would it require a change to the USO ? The USO License is that Royal Mail deliver once a day it does not mention by plane. The quality of service target is to deliver 93.5 again it does not mention by plane.

The cancellation of planes will simply move the operation back later and the impact will be different for more remote parts of the UK.

For example Stanstead flies mail to Newcastle and it is an hours flight plus transfer to Tyneside mail centre for processing the inward. If that then goes on rail or road that adds at least 2or 3 hours into the operation. Obviously if it is gong to Edinburgh or Aberdeen it adds more.

The cancellation of flights is nothing new it is the same rehashed proposal Royal Mail suggested in there submission to the external mediation process which led to the 4 pillars agreement.

[2yearpostie]

Woody why would it require a change to the USO ? The USO License is that Royal Mail deliver once a day it does not mention by plane. The quality of service target is to deliver 93.5 again it does not mention by plane.

The cancellation of planes will simply move the operation back later and the impact will be different for more remote parts of the UK.

For example Stanstead flies mail to Newcastle and it is an hours flight plus transfer to Tyneside mail centre for processing the inward. If that then goes on rail or road that adds at least 2or 3 hours into the operation. Obviously if it is gong to Edinburgh or Aberdeen it adds more.

The cancellation of flights is nothing new it is the same rehashed proposal Royal Mail suggested in there submission to the external mediation process which led to the 4 pillars agreement.

So that brings in the possibility of 11am/12pm starts?

[Woody Guthrie]

Woody why would it require a change to the USO ?

Because there's no way the business could maintain the 1st class commitment without planes.

They can barely maintain it with them.

But you know that.

You can't "simply" move the entire operation back what could be as much as 4-5 hours without tearing the whole thing down and attempting to rebuild it basically from scratch.

But you know that.

You can't "simply" move delivery back 4-5 hours either and it will effect all areas because a 1st class letter going from Aberdeen to London as far as I'm aware would take the same time as one going from London to Aberdeen and without any changes to the USO they are equally as important.

But you know that.

Anyway why are you scaring the children Martin, the union position is clear, no strings so surely all these strings are irrelevant?

But you know that....