On your first point, that's life. Most Mon-Fri 9-5 jobs are very poorly paid and are pretty rare in this day and age. I often have to stay later at work to get things done or bring it home with me. The reality is that a lot of people do the same. I also struggle to commit to things and with a rolling rota when I never know what day I have off, it further complicates things.
With pensions, not sure of the ins and outs but the government's own rules have stated for many years that a pension fund can only have a certain excess before they have to stop contributions. The situation is no different to many other private companies. And as above, final salary is long gone in most of the private sector.
Now maybe some people joined RM for a cushty public sector life, but that doesn't wash any more, it's ridiculous to have a two-tier workforce.
My argument against other companies delivering mail isn't just long-term cost but the short term cost and time involved in recruiting and training loads of staff and investing in new equipment. I'm sure it could be done but due to the massive investment, no-one is willing to stick their neckout and do it, can't say I blame them.
Helzy Baby
Let me clarify:
Five years ago Mr Leighton and Mr Crozier wanted the Posties to be more productive, to take on more work.
They increased the average walk (round) from 500 drops to 650 drops, they also tied an incentive to this, not a financial one, one of time, it is called 'job and done'.
The Posties went for this and it basically meant your attendance hours are 0445 to 1320, but if you get all the mail delivered you can go home when you finish your walk.
To facilitate this the Posties used their heads and once they prepped their mail they put it in their boot and drove it out to their walk. They then rushed around the walk, breaking every rule that RM set, ie: do not make your pouches more than 16kg, do not walk across peoples drives/lawns/etc, do not scoot or ride your bicycle on footpaths and they habitually come in an hour or so early to get their job prepped and ready to go, the net result of this is that the Posties on average knock off two hours a day earlier.
Royal Mail turned a blind eye to these practises because it suited them, they were able to make 40,000 staff redundant and put extra work on the remaining staff, they got the mail delivered, the staff made some time, everyone was a winner!
To put it bluntly, if you worked at Tescos, would you go in and sit on your checkout an hour early for free? Would Tescos encourage you to break every H & S rule that they themselves introduced. Would you deliver an internet order for them in you own private car?
RM introduced these practises so they have now become the norm. They now want to withdraw them. They want the Posties to start at 0600, losing their £15 unsociable start time allowance. Prep their mail, leave the office at 0830 and stay out and deliver until 1400.
The Posties will not use their cars, stick to all of RM and H & S rules and not come in early to prep. What do you think the net result of this will be to the service. Later mail. Posties not completing their rounds and returning mail to the Delivery Offices. A mail build up or backlog. Or RM employing more staff and defeating their original objective???
The politics of this dispute are so intricate, it's very difficult to have a realistic opinion unless you actually work in the industry and have all the facts.
im waiting for my next course unit, will it ever get here lol
