Today Royal Mail lost 10 large customers

[Goochie]

Narrow minded **** bothering union members wrecked the UK manufacturing industry over the last 30 years. If the rest of us non-postmen dont like our pay and conditions we go and find a job somewhere else - so why dont they do that?

I'll tell you why.... Its because they know they wouldnt be able to get the same pay and conditions elsewhere with their skills and qualifications. You see, I dont think ASDA pay their trolley boys as must as Royal Mail pay their postmen.

The postmen are achieving little by striking, other than enhancing their reputation as a bunch of work-shy theiving lazy narrow minded **** botherers.

[expostmanpat]

:wave: hiya phil

[Sporky McGuffin]

Lucky boy :P .. although long-term I can't see anyone carrying on with them.

They're certainly a dying tradition. I strongly suspect that my bunch will keep theirs going, and keep it open to new staff, but we're rather different from most of the private sector.

[simonsheil]

Narrow minded **** bothering union members wrecked the UK manufacturing industry over the last 30 years. If the rest of us non-postmen dont like our pay and conditions we go and find a job somewhere else - so why dont they do that?

I'll tell you why.... Its because they know they wouldnt be able to get the same pay and conditions elsewhere with their skills and qualifications. You see, I dont think ASDA pay their trolley boys as must as Royal Mail pay their postmen.

The postmen are achieving little by striking, other than enhancing their reputation as a bunch of work-shy theiving lazy narrow minded **** botherers.

Unusually harsh phil, compensating for having a vauxhall maybe?

[simonsheil]

Also while unions may have increased the speed of decline of the manafacturing industry the outcome would almost certainly always have been the same. Mass manafacturing would have moved to china whether or not the Uk had a good manafacturing base. As for global design brand development has become more and more expensive over recent years requiring bigger and bigger compaines, which intrestingly Britain does not have. In fact in th world market we are seen as very shy in the takeover market hence moving control of large technical manafacturing to oversees control (although often still done in Britain).

[pixi]

I'm not sure if one of them got their own back today but, when I came home from work yesterday there was a card put through the door. Special deliver, signature, come and collect in 24 hours blah, blah. So I went with the card today to the sorting office. Postal worker goes off to find my parcel and comes back with a tracker print out that states 'delivered' on it. Hmm, that's strange she says. Very strange I say seeing as it's stating to come and collect what with it needing a signature.

I'm currentely awaiting a call from the manager, he finishes at half six

Edit.....just rang like I said I would if I hadn't heard by 6.15. What a surprise, an answering machine

[sms]

have you checked around the outside of your property in case its hidden in the bin, shed, bush, flower pot under car etc.

[simonsheil]

City Link gave a parcel to my neighbour once, but didn't think to put a card through to tell me. Looked online and it said delivered to a name I didn't recgonise (didn't know neighburs surname), went mad and would have yelled at someone at citylink - couldn't find speak to human in phone menu. Neighbour came around with it at about 9.00 at which stage I calmed down again.

[sms]

occassionly i have this problem when delivering, its due to time constraints running to and fromt he vehicle for cards to leave with you and finding neighbours to sign for the goods... perhaps if you were in the city link driver could have delivered to you... i always leave a note telling them to try my neighbour across the road if im not in, it courtesy if you know you not gonna be there to accept it.

[pixi]

have you checked around the outside of your property in case its hidden in the bin, shed, bush, flower pot under car etc.

It is special delivery and needing a signature so they requested I collected in 24 hours. At other times when they've left stuff not requiring a signature they written on the card who they left it with.

God knows what's happened to it :confused:

[Moose]

There was a cartoon on the front of the Telegraph today, a bloke at his front door with a note saying 'we didn't try to deliver your parcel and don't come to the sorting office'. Made me laugh.

[TKW]

Oh, and I'm a member of the AEEU and they're a waste of space too .

They might be a waste of space, but it must be a waste of money belonging to them! I didn't think they existed any more :confused:

[yellowcupra]

I use Special Delivery nearly every day and to be honest i find it an excellent service. The goods i post are £470 each and standard insurance covers for £500 so thats perfect for me. Use the big silver envelopes to keep everthing intact and it looks more attractive and profesional to the customer when the parcel arrives. Online tracking also works well and for the 460g boxes i post costs about £5.

Now while strike is on i used DHL and same parcel costs £19.37!

The staff are unhelpful and wouldnt even accept cash as a payment method, also no smart packing bags, just wrote address on the box in permanent marker.

If RM lose 5.5p per letter why cant they just up the postage cost? I for one will pay extra for a good local service. I dont want to use other companys, my customers need the product asap and in some cases if its not there next day they dont want it at all.

Next thing my local post office will be closing and it will be quicker to deliver my own parcels! Whats stopping them upping prices. Same as anything else in life i am willing to pay good money for a high quality service. My customers use us knowing they will get a quality product for a fair price. Surely Royal Mail should work along the same lines?

[BeezerDiesel]

Postcomm, the unelected body who answer to nobody decide how much Royal Mail can charge.

[sms]

id be happy to pay double the first class rate if they could guarentee the service, the post got there on time and it was delivered in the morning and not the afternoon in 3 days time.

[LJ_Matt]

They might be a waste of space, but it must be a waste of money belonging to them! I didn't think they existed any more :confused:

You're probably quite right - it's another £10 a month I could have in my pocket if I cancelled!

I've been a member ever since I was a shop floor electrical fitter (15 years ago now :eek: ) so even though I've been off the tools in the design side of things for 4 years or so it's just a fear of "what if" that's stopped me cancelling. Really should I suppose, the only thing worth it though is I get to hear the news from various shop floor meetings etc which non members aren't privvy to . Amusing when people are throwing dummies around...........

[Wet Kipper]

why don't RM just charge more to deliver all the junk mail that comes throughaour doors ? Make it 40p per flyer/advert/offer for a loan thinly disguised as a proper letter. I dunno about anyone else, but we seem to get bundles of a dozen things every few days.

Then either they'll make lots of money, or we'll get less junk

[gadgetman]

I drove past my local sorting office earlier and there seemed to be a fair few at work and not a single pickett or billboard.

I've seen quite a few working out and about yesterday - although none round my way

I got about 2.5% this year, too. That's pretty common (apart of course from the poor sods who're getting bu88er all, again, for the nth year running...).

For the last few years my mrs has had less than 1%!

Very few firms pay anywhere near inflation - if giving a payrise at all!

Why thank you gadgetman, perhaps you could let me know what company you work for and I will endeavor never to use it's services

Than again perhaps it's a utopian company that's never had a union, pays fantastic money, has a massive pension scheme and everyone who works there is amzingly happy? Are there any vacancies there?

And then there's your own private correspondances. On the 21st of this month you will see the last Sunday collection. There will be no more expensive aeroplanes flying on Sundays with mail on board, there will be no more lorries speeding your first class mail that was posted Sunday morning to a distant part of the country to be delivered early Monday morning. That's just the start of it, next to go will be Saturday deliveries and probably collections too, and next will be.....?

And why? Because Royal Mail have to deliver those letters your business sent via another company for less money. Royal Mail are thus losing money left right and centre because of this ridiculous scenario, so they want to cut costs which means wages and overheads. All the companies are chasing the big postings and your small insignificant personal mail is the stuff that's going to suffer. Do you see any prices going down to reflect the better rates your cable/satelite/mobile phone provider for instance have negotiated with their mail provider? I thought not. Those savings are going into a foreign shareholders pocket.

If Royal Mail go under will any of the bigger competitors jump at the full universal service license? Not a chance, they'll just buy up the smaller competitors and we will be back to square one minus the universal service, and they'll be able to charge as much as they can get away with. Wave good bye to another great British dinosaur you're about to help slaughter!

I personally have never had a mail item go missing that I can remember (touches wood), but no Royal Mail employee is blind to the decifiencies of it's (pretty good value for money) sytem.

Due to it's sheer size and scale Royal Mail is not like normal companies. Your friendly (or otherwise) Postman Plod who delivers the mail is only one link in a very large chain and these people are not fighting for better anything at Joe Public's expense, they're fighting for what they're having taken from them and in the case of the pensions issue (which is really the issue that is getting most peoples backs up) you could almost say stolen from them.

The 2.5% pay rise is only a drop in the ocean. Nobody really has much of a problem with that amount under the circumstances the business now has it's the strings attached to that 2.5% that are the issue.

Posties aren't fire breathing militants who think the world owes them a living. They are normal working guys and girls who have lives, families, mortgages and know people out in the 'real world' too, most of which earn more and don't have to work ridiculous hours.

Where do I start?

Well, no there are no jobs going. YOU couldnt use my companies services directly, but I almost guarantee you DO help keep my employer going - and me employed. You drink hot beverages dont you?!

And they're using DX - who dont use the RM at all.

Initially I like others supported the firemen. THEN things became serious when people were put in too much danger, people died/property lost due to the lack of cover the green goddesses and the Army could provide. The FBU soon realised public support was lost, and took the tabled offers.

Similarly posties had public support initially - after all its the novelty factor with joe public. Well, after the repeated disruptions, and what will be almost a week without post, many have totally given up supporting you guys.

Today the CWU claimed 60% were in favour of the postie's plight, however several other surveys also announced within the last 24hrs for the papers and news channels show the exact opposite!

As for the whole BT etc using other firms which force the postie to deliver for less, well I've sorted that one for you - just like many others have. All the firms who bill me for anything (mortgage, bank, Credit card, mobiole, council tax etc etc) I've gone totally electronic. Yup, no worries on that issue. Oh, hand about. That's over 20 monthly mailings for the household for which RM wont get ANY money - and I get rewarded for being green too.

Even my insurer enabled me to download my certificate of insurance.

On the pension front, I challenge you to find an employer that offers new starters a pension which the employer pays into. VERY FEW do these days. Their only obligation is to offer you the opportunity of joining one for you to pay into.

And isnt 17 years a bit of a long time to suddenly make it an issue? If I was a CWU member, I'd be asking serious questions as to why it's taken this long to support you on it!!!!

[sms]

they need to leave the striking for a couple of weeks, i have plenty of stuff awaiting delievery and if i knew where in the system they were i would go get them myself.

[gadgetman]

BBC NEWS | Have Your Say | How will the postal strike affect you?

I'm actually up to p10 (a good read IMO), and so far the posters are mainly against the posties. The few that are (the public, not the obv posties there) are singing the same hymns.

We are paying for a service that isnt being offered - especially during the strikes. When the day comes that there is an alternative, it'll be taken. Your actions are only cementing this the same as every strike has done.

The public wont forget.

[sms]

Well when the government/pos****ch whoever governs it give the full green light to the other companies who are muscling in then the post office will be gone as no one will use them. Its only because the likes of TNT etc cannot do the final mile yet that people are still forced to use the RM. I personally would be stood at Dover giving out job applications to all the illegals as they enter britain. Lets face it they be on half the wages and happy with it and wont strike as they wouldnt get to earn what they can at home. I work for a large logistics company and can guarentee if we striked on the unions words we would be picked off one by one at a later date and be removed from the companies equations. Perhaps RM should start the same, remove the militants one by one by watching their every move and once they do something wrong "good bye" oh forgot they would have a wildcat strike...

[Furby_Lass]

I think this might be happening to the comapny I work for too, they pay £13,000 a year for post to be delivered before 6am and they hardly ever do which isnt sooo bad, but with all the strikes too and the back log of work we get (our work relies heavily on post) my company isnt very happy in the slightest. :(

[expostmanpat]

Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeee I'm a Pariah

[simonsheil]

Well when the government/pos****ch whoever governs it give the full green light to the other companies who are muscling in then the post office will be gone as no one will use them. Its only because the likes of TNT etc cannot do the final mile yet that people are still forced to use the RM. I personally would be stood at Dover giving out job applications to all the illegals as they enter britain. Lets face it they be on half the wages and happy with it and wont strike as they wouldnt get to earn what they can at home. I work for a large logistics company and can guarentee if we striked on the unions words we would be picked off one by one at a later date and be removed from the companies equations. Perhaps RM should start the same, remove the militants one by one by watching their every move and once they do something wrong "good bye" oh forgot they would have a wildcat strike...

Yes I can really see TNT offering country wide service :rofl: . They will take the easy profitable bits in cities and sod the rest of the country. Thanks a lot

[simonsheil]

BBC NEWS | Have Your Say | How will the postal strike affect you?

I'm actually up to p10 (a good read IMO), and so far the posters are mainly against the posties. The few that are (the public, not the obv posties there) are singing the same hymns.

We are paying for a service that isnt being offered - especially during the strikes. When the day comes that there is an alternative, it'll be taken. Your actions are only cementing this the same as every strike has done.

The public wont forget.

And a quick read as usual shows the great public as stupid (but hey the saying goes a person is smart people are stupid). The postal unions arnt actually asking for a pay rise, just not a pay cut which with the terms offfered is what they are getting. On top of this they are getting changes to working hours which effects all sort of other areas such as childcare etc.