Royal Mail are taking the pi**!

[NivagSwerdna]

I blame the people who voted Brexit, they should pay for the mess we are in.

I enjoyed the 70s... the scheduled blackouts were really fun... enjoyed the candles and sitting around in the dark... but I was a kid and we did have a coal fired stove!

 

[Venom]

Rail Strikers piss me off more than Royal mail TBH.

At least with RM you can use another service.

Rail, the costs will be passed onto passengers, who cant afford it now anyway.

Nurses and medical services strike for others , Rail strike for themselves.

Trying to get ticket from Bristol to London for kids to enjoy Xmas is complicated and expensive.

I have a caravan at pershore and did get a ticket for all of us to london for £10 return, never managed to get another one

Love that Mark Twain qoute never saw that before. I like the einsten qoutes and this is one of my fave's If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.

 

[neo-geo-mvs]

I bought a parcel from Hong Kong, all tax paid already and Royal Mail kept it for 15 days before bothering to deliver it.

I've sent parcels to UK and they've taken 11 days to arrive.

Really $hit

 

[namfreak]

I have to keep trying to remember what I bought, yesterday I was thinking about something and then found I actually bought it 3 weeks ago, according to tracking it was collected by Royal Mail and I guess in a mountain of post somewhere. I use Yodeldirect or Parcel2go these days for anything that isn't a letter, it is cheaper, far quicker, tracked and usually covered up to £50. Royal Mail are not doing themselves many favours. Surely the more they strike, the more money they lose, more people stop using the service and then their jobs will then be on the line. All the strikes are doing my head in.

This

A recent load of ebay stuff we sold went via the Parcel 2 Go couriers

At least I could say to the buyers with confidence their items would arrive in x number of days

Plus RM seem to be so overpriced on large parcels, couriers seem to do the large stuff at a much more affordable price, and it was collected from out front door, no need to queue in the PO

As you say they are doing themselves out of business, since they've had competing services

 

[Vamino]

I'm in a Union, we rejected multiple pennies per hour offers and nearly went on strike over sh*t pay conditions. One solution was to extend the working week to 48 hours which would then give us more money. You really couldn't make it up.

Whilst the company pleaded poverty, the CEO's and whatnot paid themselves massive bonuses, then they announced that they were derecognising the Union when they got a sniff of dwindling Union membership due to people not being able to afford the monthly fee. They seen sense in the finish and restructured the ancient 'pay what they like' pay structure, and Union membership was bolstered when people realised how bad it could be without Union representation..

Union members don't get full pay when they strike, they usually get a percentage or set amount per day. It's not some sort of cushy holiday striking, it's a last resort to try and get something they deserve. The government are now trying to make up new laws so they don't have to deal with employee discontent, one of the perks of being able to make whatever laws up you can safely get away with whilst pushing it through the middle of the night when everyone is on holiday.

There's always 2 sides to every story, and I always take what the media spins with a pinch of salt, I support the workers who are just trying to get a fair days wage for an honest days work. Delayed deliveries is a mild inconvenience in the grand scheme of things. Most of the people in pay disputes worked throughout the whole of the pandemic/lockdown whilst a lot of people were putting up their feet on furlough.

This is a worldwide issue, it's not something you can nonchalantly blame on Brexit/Putin/environment/ etc etc. The next phase of this 'big squeeze' is when people won't be able to pay their mortgages due to more interest rate rises that they say they won't keep raising. Don't worry though, there's already a solution to that, just buy a new £20 kettle to save £10 per year in energy. Job done.

 

[tb lilley]

I packed my job in a couple of months ago. Partly in response to this year's imposed 2% pay increase. My pension is based on final salary, but is also linked to inflation rate from my last day of employment.

So the crazy reality is that in a world of 2% pay increases and 10% inflation, to keep the value in a pension I've worked 32 years to accrue, I've had to stop working.

So yeah, I'm now part of the over 50, economically inactive, crowd.

 

[Vamino]

I packed my job in a couple of months ago. Partly in response to this year's imposed 2% pay increase. My pension is based on final salary, but is also linked to inflation rate from my last day of employment.

So the crazy reality is that in a world of 2% pay increases and 10% inflation, to keep the value in a pension I've worked 32 years to accrue, I've had to stop working.

So yeah, I'm now part of the over 50, economically inactive, crowd.

Hopefully you have been well looked after by your previous company mate.

I hope I can semi-retire into self employment.

I've been in my current job for 12 years now.

When I first started, we had a final salary pension scheme which was just being phased out. We were bullied back then and made a stand to keep what we had. They changed the pension scheme anyway and a few years late brought over the USA bully boy legal team to force us all to sign new contracts or face the consequences. Either accept the new contract or find another job.

The guys that had been with the company for 35+ years had a fantastic final salary pension payouts. And even the guys that had worked for 25+ years had something decent, it was normal to have well in excess of half a million pound pension pots with average contributions and have the ability to be able able to retire comfortably at 55.

Now some of the younger guys are stuck in 35 year mortgages just managing to scrape by with the current cost of living rises. The prospect of a couple of work colleagues moving from their current fixed interest rate of under 2% to the current market average of 6% is gonna cripple them financially, especially on mortgages over 300k.

For people that are not in a Union or don't feel the need to join one, the cost of living is the main reason why people join Unions, going on strike is not something they do to simply piss people off because they don't get their parcels on time or trains are cancelled, but it's their last legally justified stand to ask for a decent work/life balance and not have to work flat out for 35 years just to pay off the mortgage.

 

[neo-geo-mvs]

I've been waiting for a parcel from The Game Collection 24 hour tracked since 28/11/22 and nothing received. No red ticket etc. Just tracked it. They claimed nobody was in on Fri 2/12/22 when somebody was.

Is this common practice due to the strike? Say a delivery attempt was made when it wasn't and expect you to collect without informing you?

I'm all for fair pay and better rights but honestly and customer service needs to be maintained somehow to keep customer trust in the business.

Workers don't get paid on strike days and so yes it is a last resort. I just don't think the fat cats care and will just wait for current workers to leave and then replace with cheaper workers with $hit working conditions

 

[Vamino]

The UK government owns the Post Office.

The UK government owns the London Underground, it's supposed to be not for profit but who knows.

Next year it will be the teachers turn to strike, guess who pays their wages.

Unfortunately, customer service relations are not the strong point of
the UK government. My local council removed lights on a private access
road at the back of my house due to costs, guess how far me and my
neighbours got with them complaining that they removed the lights without asking us
first.

I stand with the postal workers, the same sh*t that happened to them also happened to the majority of people in my company. Our final salary pensions were taken away and employers contributions were capped at the salary level instead of including overtime/bonuses. Their pay dispute has been going on for months and the way the UK government are handling things is straight from the union busters handbook.

Vamino2022-12-10 16:58:22

 

[kevkevkev]

I sent something last saturday and it arrived monday.

But i heard on the news that 18 days strike is them losing £2000. I dont get £1500 a month! And they want more! Gone are the days they can blitz through their sack and go home early and get paid. They really need to just accept how it is because the future is couriers. The only reason they are still around is the convenience. Amazon must be loving it.

 

[John Bennett]

I posted some circuit boards on Wed and they arrived Thu.
Pot luck at the moment, perhaps.

 

[Vamino]

I sent something last saturday and it arrived monday.

But i heard on the news that 18 days strike is them losing £2000. I dont get £1500 a month! And they want more! Gone are the days they can blitz through their sack and go home early and get paid. They really need to just accept how it is because the future is couriers. The only reason they are still around is the convenience. Amazon must be loving it.

Watching the news isn't going to give the you full story though mate, especially since the government own the BBC and make the narrative one sided. Read the press releases from the Union, they are legally obliged to tell the whole story.

https://www.cwu.org/media-centre/press-releases/

'Throughout this year, 115,000 postal workers have been taking industrial
action against senior management’s attempts to enforce massive
real-terms pay cuts, force through thousands of compulsory redundancies
and enact changes that would see Royal Mail turned into a Uber-style gig
economy parcel courier.'

Why not also ask your local postman what he thinks? My mom's local postman is a legend, he makes multiple trips back and forth from the delivery office to make life easier. He doesn't go home when he feels like it or when has done his quota.

 

[John Bennett]

Watching the news isn't going to give the you full story though mate, especially since the government own the BBC and make the narrative one sided.

You're suggesting the Tory government and the BBC are in cahoots?

I couldn't think of two groups any less likely to collaborate.

 

[_Matt_]

I sent something last saturday and it arrived monday.

But i heard on the news that 18 days strike is them losing £2000. I dont get £1500 a month! And they want more! Gone are the days they can blitz through their sack and go home early and get paid. They really need to just accept how it is because the future is couriers. The only reason they are still around is the convenience. Amazon must be loving it.

Watching the news isn't going to give the you full story though mate, especially since the government own the BBC and make the narrative one sided. Read the press releases from the Union, they are legally obliged to tell

I don't know the facts on the postal strikes etc but in general you're right about the BBC, the government completely control what's put out on BBC be it TV or radio. When you have your eyes open and can see all the blatant and obvious disinformation and constant propaganda it's terrifying but most people don't have the time to wade through the lies and presume what they read and see in the media is true.

However the much bigger problem is that pretty much all mainstream media is controlled by the same powerful people with the same agenda and unfortunately for us they also control our government.

_Matt_2022-12-10 17:39:29

 

[tb lilley]

The guys that had been with the company for 35+ years had a fantastic final salary pension payouts. And even the guys that had worked for 25+ years had something decent, it was normal to have well in excess of half a million pound pension pots with average contributions and have the ability to be able able to retire comfortably at 55.

So yeah, that's pretty much my situation .... One of the very last that'll enjoy those sorts of benefits. I remember talking to a colleague maybe 20 years ago about joining the union. She wasn't keen - said it didn't feel right given that the terms and conditions of employment were so generous. Well, yeah - that's because we have (had) a strong union ....

Rail, mail, nurses etc etc - good luck to them. You can't treat people like sh*t for 15 years then just expect them to suck up a crazy cost of living crisis. Enough is enough.

 

[Vamino]

Watching the news isn't going to give the you full story though mate, especially since the government own the BBC and make the narrative one sided.

You're suggesting the Tory government and the BBC are in cahoots?

I couldn't think of two groups any less likely to collaborate.

No, I'm suggesting that the narrative given by the BBC reflects the governments interests and what it want's people to think. I don't think it matters what party is in power, the results will still be the same, the lot of them are cut from the same cloth, no one is exempt from the corruption.

As the back page of one of the tabloids stated a week or so ago, if England win their match it will help the population take their mind off the cost of living crisis. I had to laugh at that.

People are treated like chumps until they stand together with a common voice.

 

[Vamino]

The guys that had been with the company for 35+ years had a fantastic final salary pension payouts. And even the guys that had worked for 25+ years had something decent, it was normal to have well in excess of half a million pound pension pots with average contributions and have the ability to be able able to retire comfortably at 55.

So yeah, that's pretty much my situation .... One of the very last that'll enjoy those sorts of benefits. I remember talking to a colleague maybe 20 years ago about joining the union. She wasn't keen - said it didn't feel right given that the terms and conditions of employment were so generous. Well, yeah - that's because we have (had) a strong union ....

Rail, mail, nurses etc etc - good luck to them. You can't treat people like sh*t for 15 years then just expect them to suck up a crazy cost of living crisis. Enough is enough.

The old guard made me completely aware of the benefits of the Union mate, when I started there was a major dispute regarding the start of our shift. They wanted us to collect work related parts before the shift started then get on site at the start of our shift, then we had to give them an hour travel time home. At the extreme it was equating to a 48hour working week for 39 hours pay.

I was working 10 day on, 4 day off shifts back then. The manager was refusing holiday requests because he wanted the best stats to keep his job. At the time we didn't know that the managers were having to reapply for their jobs due to reductions.

I've been a Union member since day 1, the fee is worth every penny from the nonsense it's saved us from.

Wish you a happy retirement mate, it sounds like it's well deserved.

 

[DaveR]

well as a postie (working on tracked delivery) and should be working tomorrow but another strike, we are forced into it, not just about the crazy pay rise non-sense, we got a Ceo that has no clue about the running of a company thats been losing money since the previos two ceo's

Our terms are under threat, the USO (letters to all doors) is in danger.

Before u know it, we will be fired P/O style and replaced with Evri style drivers.

I am waiting for parts, ur not the only one but I dont trust tracked serviices but standard is delierd by regular posties but 'pacels have priortise'

 

[John Bennett]

When you have your eyes open and can see all the blatant and obvious disinformation and constant propaganda it's terrifying but most people don't have the time to wade through the lies and presume what they read and see in the media is true.
However the much bigger problem is that pretty much all mainstream media is controlled by the same powerful people with the same agenda and unfortunately for us they also control our government.

My eyes are closed and I haven't got time to wade through the lies, so could you give an example of who please.

Edit (again). Nah, forget it, this is way off topic.

John Bennett2022-12-10 20:16:27

 

[Retroman839]

Should never have been privatised. Same goes for utilities etc. 

Absolutely agree with you on that one!