Rant Royal mail

[00dave]

Yes it's another 00dave rant, but bear with me it might be a good one

Are these muppets determined to do themselves out of a job permenantly or something?

I ordered my copy of operation flashpoint 2 through amazon on friday as asda had sold out, (see the fps thread for more on that) but was worried about the postal strike effecting my delivery. So I did a bit of research and found this Royal Mail loses Amazon contract as postal strikes loom | UK news | The Guardian

Are the royal mail workers so shortsighted as to think that striking in the run up to xmas will do them any favors, because from the sound of things it's going to destroy royal mail forever. Although I'm not in possesion of the actual figures I assume the sending of letters has taken second place to the delivery of goods purchased online these days.

So now we'll have to rely on the private home delivery services whose vans and drivers come equip with cloaking devices which allow them to park outside your door see that there's no possible way you could actually have taken the day off work to recieve and important parcel* and driven off without attempting delivery.


*I wouldn't take a day off work to receive and xbox 360 game, this is a seperate rant

 

[Ch3tan]

Yeah they are twats stuck in the past, I feel sorry for those running Royal Mail trying to implement change to keep the business going and competitive.

 

[Edmond]

Yep, i ordered a DAB dock thingy from Amazon and it was delivered by Shitty-Link on wednesday, and of course i wasn't there to recive it, so had to wait till saturday morning and drive to Basingstoke (15 miles) to get it

The other problem is that if Amazon start using couriers, how long will it be b4 people stop using them because of having to travel 15 - 20 miles to pick up thier orders

 

[Zenith.UK]

So you want to make sure that your letter gets there? Send it Special Delivery and it's guaranteed... for a price.

What annoys me is there isn't any alternative.
Even if you're a business who is using a different company for posting your letters, Royal Mail are almost always the ones who actually deliver the letter to the door. The problem as I see it is that Royal Mail is one of those businesses that shouldn't have been privatised. The same goes for any "infrastructure" business. If the Govt of the day is going to privatise a national company, it should retain a large shareholding or have a seat on the executive board. That way there is accountability and the Govt can jump in quick if the service starts deteriorating.

Ofc the unions are part of the problem, and in the case of the Royal Mail they seem shortsighted. Sure, strike now and bargain to retain jobs. In the meantime, the large companies that use Royal Mail will use alternative providers in their droves... making Royal Mail less profitable in the future. Way to go guys!
</sarcasm>

 

[Raven]

So you want to make sure that your letter gets there? Send it Special Delivery and it's guaranteed... for a price.

It may well say that but it certainly isn't. The amount of stuff I send via that service that doesn't get there, or when it does they simply don't bother asking for a signature anyway, is ridiculous.

They should all be fired and their jobs given to people that actually want to work, plenty of them about.

 

[rynnor]

Much like the Miners unions of old the Postal workers union is doing its best to comitt suicide.

Sadly a lot of trade unions seem stuck in the 70s - look at the London Underground ones - anywhere they can strike to inconvenience millions theres a bloody minded union.

 

[nath]

Just to play devil's avocado, are we sure that the bosses aren't being fucking unreasonable with respect to pay? I mean it's not beyond the realms of possibility that the high flying execs of Royal Mail are getting nice fat pay rises/bonuses and the wealth isn't being shared adequately.

I've not checked to see if this is the case, wouldn't know where to start, just wondering if any of you lot know either way.

 

[tris-]

replace them with robots, thatl teach em.

 

[Trem]

Its the power hungry union bosses to blame, hairy, sweaty little men who have a chip on their shoulder because they are small....and hairy.....and sweaty.

Mind you we consider our post early if we get it before 4pm, our postman is a fucking waste of skin.

 

[Scouse]

Yeah, these fucking posties on 16 grand a year with little prospect of better. Grrrr. Whadda they fucking expect? If they want better pay they'd better quit and find a better job. Rageragerageragerage

 

[chipper]

the ppl at the top always take more than their fair share thats been goin on since money came about.

fact is ppl are sick to fuckin death of strikes theres just no sympathy anymore on a large scale its coming up to christmas ppl are wanting to get presents sent etc this wont make people sympathetic to the cause they will just think FFS assholes.

i know they want job security we all do the fact is we are deep in a recession and cuts do need to be made in some areas (although at this time of year i am struggling to understand why) as always volutary redundancies will be offered first then if that doesnt meet the needs its time to trim the fat etc. imo get rid of some fucking managers cos theres always more than you actually need anywhere you go.

 

[Scouse]

the ppl at the top always take more than their fair share thats been goin on since money came about.

True to a certain extent, but due to capitalism the difference between the haves and nots have been stretched to the limits IMHO.

fact is ppl are sick to fuckin death of strikes theres just no sympathy anymore on a large scale its coming up to christmas ppl are wanting to get presents sent etc this wont make people sympathetic to the cause they will just think FFS assholes.

Oh I get it. It's inconvenient to you and you just don't give a fuck about anyone else's plight. Even if they're poor?

 

[00dave]

Yeah, these fucking posties on 16 grand a year with little prospect of better. Grrrr. Whadda they fucking expect? If they want better pay they'd better quit and find a better job. Rageragerageragerage

I don't know what you're on a year but 16 grand a year isn't as bad as you seem to think it is. I was on less than that in the RAF.
Also have you heard what goes on in the postal service, posties cba to carry all their parcels so just take a stack of "we called but you weren't in" cards, if they stub their toe they're probably off for 6 months paid sick leave, stealing post etc.

 

[nath]

I don't know what you're on a year but 16 grand a year isn't as bad as you seem to think it is. I was on less than that in the RAF.

Isn't that tax free and living expenses are taken care of completely?

 

[Scouse]

Just what I was thinking...

...but as they're all thieves....

 

[00dave]

Isn't that tax free and living expenses are taken care of completely?

I've dug out an old pay slip for you here I don't mind sharing.

In April 2005 (so after my 2 pay rises) my gross pay was £1206.60, tax was £155.35, national insurance was £75.07, food charge £106.50, £52.50 accommodation charge (it was one very small room), council tax £2.40 (lol) plus other charges brought my Net pay down to £802.76.

And that could be anything from 40 to 84 hours a week, so no sympathy for the posties from me.

But my pay is significantly higher now

 

[nath]

Fair enough. However, if the company is making enough money to give the posties pay rises and the execs are swallowing all that then I do have sympathy.

 

[Chilly]

the workers are being shat on from a great height by managers who have no idea what the actual job is. There's a whole series of stupid policies that need to go.

Also - 16 grand is absolutely dick all if you have to live in London and I bet the posties there only get about 500 quid a year extra "london rates" or whatever.

I agree striking is an absolute **** and in Hammersmith where my office is, we have a postal strike every week, normally, so I consider myself to be at the brunt of this crap. Losing the amazon contract is a great exercise in shitty capitalism mixed with bad regulation. TNT or whoever will collect the mail, charge slightly less ( or maybe MORE than RM) and then get RM to deliver it f or the fixed rate the government mandates, skimming the profit that RM should have got to reinvest and give payrises with.

 

[Scouse]

I've dug out an old pay slip for you here I don't mind sharing.

In April 2005 (so after my 2 pay rises) my gross pay was £1206.60, tax was £155.35, national insurance was £75.07, food charge £106.50, £52.50 accommodation charge (it was one very small room), council tax £2.40 (lol) plus other charges brought my Net pay down to £802.76.

And that could be anything from 40 to 84 hours a week, so no sympathy for the posties from me.

OK. I get it.

Just because you were dumb enough to accept such atrocious living conditions as a single man you think that posties, who have families, should live like shit?

Okaaaaaaay.

 

[nath]

Just because you were dumb enough to accept such atrocious living conditions as a single man you think that posties, who have families, should live like shit?

Yeah that's a great way to have a discussion mate. I expect dave will see your point, accept it and provide an interesting, thought provoking counter-argument.

Or he may just call you a ****. Who knows?

 

[00dave]

OK. I get it.

Just because you were dumb enough to accept such atrocious living conditions as a single man you think that posties, who have families, should live like shit?

Okaaaaaaay.

You really are a nasty piece of work aren't you Scouse.

You've said some really simple minded shit recently but insulting members of the armed forces (because by your childlike logic they're all dumb enough) is a new low.

I can't even imagine what drove you to make such a shortsighted and ridiculous statement.

 

[00dave]

Yeah that's a great way to have a discussion mate. I expect dave will see your point, accept it and provide an interesting, thought provoking counter-argument.

Or he may just call you a ****. Who knows?

I did try to resist, as proven I do have a bit of a temper

Anyway lets try to stay on topic. The fact is that lots of people out there are stuggling by on their current income but they don't have the ability go on strike. In fact I dare say a lot of the people out there with home businesses who rely on that mail will be even worse off now because one group of irresponsible workers decided they weren't getting enough.
There are a lot of people out there much worse off than these selfish union bastards.

 

[nath]

That is indeed one way of looking at it, but on the other hand maybe it's the execs that are the *****. Perhaps they have more than enough money to pay a good wage to the posties and the union knows this. Honestly I've no idea I'm just trying to look at it from all angles.

 

[Trem]

16 grand a year is a fucking great pay where I live.

I didn't realise they get so much, I may just apply to be a postie myself. Honestly anyone who can't live on that outside of London is doing something wrong. My wife is pretty smart and does accountancy/buying/general sorting of major orders for, amongst other things, the MoD and she gets 15'000 a year and I can't get a job so half that I guess.

If my postie gets 16k there is something majorly fucking wrong with the system, he truly walks slower than my 84 year old nan, yes I realise there isn't a time scale or owt but fuck me please stop making me open my letters while having my tea

If the execs are creaming off the money then I sympathise with the lower ranked workers but jesus christ they knew the pay before they started the job and lets face it, in the grand scheme of things it happens from the government downwards, it always has and always will.

Soldiers get less than 16'000, yes they know what the pay is but fuck me how does that make sense.

 

[00dave]

Soldiers get less than 16'000, yes they know what the pay is but fuck me how does that make sense.

The majority of people sign up for the experience of it all rather than the money, myself included. People like Scouse who only think of money wouldn't have the guts to sign up even if it were 30 grand a year.

I'm glad you said that actually Trem. I keep hearing that the national average is something like £22,000 and I'd love to know who's bumping these average figures up, here in Lincolnshire (one of the two worst paid countys in Britain) my income is more than decent.

 

[Chilly]

the million or so people in london on 80k or more are what's doing the average. Take the m25 out of the universe and that 22 k figure will drop a shit load.

 

[Trem]

the million or so people in london on 80k or more are what's doing the average. Take the m25 out of the universe and that 22 k figure will drop a shit load.

So true.

 

[Tom]

You must admit though, the price of a first class stamp and the speed at which most mail arrives is a pretty damn good service.

 

[00dave]

You must admit though, the price of a first class stamp and the speed at which most mail arrives is a pretty damn good service.

Unfortunately thats what the modernisation is needed for. Letter sending is probably getting rarer and online retail package sending is on the increase as the highstreet retail market dies.
Posties are happy to deliver letters because they don't weigh anything, but packages are heavy and bulky so the practise of leaving them at the sorting office and taking we called but you were out cards is on the increase. How many times has it happened to you guys out of curiosity?

 

[Calaen]

It has not tbh. If I send something important it gets sent recorded, I agree with Tom, for the cost of the stamp, it's a great service. I don't mind paying a couple of quid to make sure it gets there.

I have had a few mates, that worked as posties. They were up at shitty hours, sorting out there mail piles before delivering them in the shittest weather around. Something needs to be done, but whatever it is I don't know