postal strike

[strapping young lad]

first off im just playing devils advocate here and dont know the whole story so im going on what i know

how come strikes still occur?  i dont think holding the country to ransom is clever.

if i said to my boss, im on strike unless you pay me more.. i can see how far that gets me... out the door!

strikes in the thatcher era were commonplace but i feel strikes belong in that bygone era, if you want more money, ask for it dont stand outside refusing to work!

also do they get paid even though they are on strike or not?


i can feel some hostility coming so before you kick off, dont have a go, simply explain the process of going on strike and why get to that point.

d

[dazzawhipple]

Anybody going on strike needs to work how long it will take to gain the rise there fighting for

Me I am dead against unions next to usless IMO

[strapping young lad]

all i can think about is giving the government more reason to privatise stuff like this

like in the 80's when we had the coal miners strike

people were starving and penniless, how is this good?

if you want more money and the job you are on isnt paying enough, then find another job..

i thought this was obvious

[dazzawhipple]

Even if its sorted, it only time that a lot of posties will be made redundent

Theres a few people now getting annoyed with no post (wait until everyone gets a late payment charge on there Credit Card!!)

Deregulate it now!!!

[Thrasher]

Hang on ... should I stop posting letters, or will there just be a HUGE backlog ;-)

Sorry but aren't the Post Office privatised - and as such it's like me going on strike. It affects ME, MY company and no-one else. Everyone else sees a lack of service and uses a *different* method to deliver their package.

Gone are the days that they were the *only* option. Sad but true, if you have a competitor and you strike,  you lose.

The only other option is that we pay MORE for the delivery of mail. Ever had to COLLECT your own mail, they charge you £1 admin and will NOT let you see it until you pay, and then find out it's junk :( Add to that the fact that it was not even delivered!!!

[dazzawhipple]

I cannot for the life of me see a Royal mail as we have it now operating in 5 years time

Post is a waste of paper (carbon footprint) it should be online....

[V8MoneyPit]

I cannot for the life of me see a Royal mail as we have it now operating in 5 years time

Post is a waste of paper (carbon footprint) it should be online....

Hmmm...... not sure how we send a Mini indicator unit by e-mail  :?  :) There's more to mail than letters.



I have never understood the concept of striking. If I ever wanted better pay, I worked harder, produced more impressive results and then asked for a salary to match. Or I applied for a higher paying position.

The job market is self regulating in this respect. If a company isn't paying enough, it looses employees to other companies. They then have to adjust their salaries to retain staff.

If people working for the Post Office don't like what they are being paid, why don't they look for alternative employment?

Maybe I'm being naive or missing the point. If I am, I would dearly like to be corrected. As a mail order company, things like this influence our decision as to who we send items with. We pay the Post Office for a daily collection. I am really tempted to write to them (not sure when it'll get there though!) and question their breach of contract.

On the other hand, we are one of the few countries that actually have mail delivered to the door. Also, 1st class post arriving mostly next day is just about unheard of anywhere else in the world. To be fair, the Royal Mail have been operating one of the best postal services in the world since they started.

[dazzawhipple]

Its all about there pensions, nice have someone pay for your pension

I am trying to close my business down try doing that when your unable to pay the Taxman via cheque

[Big Rich]

I have herd they are going to stop the strike for a day or two then go back on strike.

Whats that about. They started the strike why start it if you go back knowing there going to strike again shortly after.

What will be "missing in the post" after all this?

Not good.

Rich

[V8MoneyPit]

What will be "missing in the post" after all this?

Not good.

Rich

Yeah, that worries me. We are getting occasional collections, but they tell us that it is unlikely to get any further than the sorting office  :roll: I can see a lot of FOC stuff having to be sent out when half of it goes missing.

[strapping young lad]

it affects everyone... eg red letters sent out about non-payment or something

passport deliveries

credit/debit card dispatches

car tax (if you do it online)

the list goes on



utter poo, it may be self regulating but its not doing a good job of it, rather reactive imo.

im waiting for post that are quite urgent but alas i have to wait until the staff decide to stop throwing their dummies out of their prams!

[Thrasher]

It's not like the other "vital" services that went on strike didn't have back-ups.

I don't recall a backlog of fires .....  :shock:

P.S. I hear that the blood donor service is relying on *postal* reminders .... and we only have something like 6 days supply left?

[V8MoneyPit]

I really find it hard to understand how anyone striking can genuinely think it will make any difference to them. The way I see it, it can only make things worse.

[Thrasher]

There will be *more* work when they get back, which no doubt will be charged as overtime  :roll:

No sympathy.

[Yoshi]

Thrasher, Post Office is privatised, but is not actually Royal Mail.  The main problem is the unions in this case.  Royal Mail have offered to raise the wages and its been refused because its not done how the union wants it.

Now the other problem is they are striking about is job cuts.  How is costing a company £20m a day going to make it easier for the company to not have to lay off 40,000 staff when they go broke.

The union are the cause of the problem here, no-one else.  If they had kept their beaks out then the job cuts would be minimised and pay raised by an ammount over the next 2 years.

[V8MoneyPit]

Here's a thought....

Can anyone think of any industry that has actually got better as a direct result of strike action? The only ones I can think of no longer exist.

[V8MoneyPit]

The union are the cause of the problem here, no-one else.  If they had kept their beaks out then the job cuts would be minimised and pay raised by an ammount over the next 2 years.

But it's the individuals who are refusing to work. They do have minds of their own and don't need to do as the unions tell them.

[Yoshi]

Yeah, but the unions make it sound alot better than it is.

[Thrasher]

I have very bad memories of the coal strike. My dad was physically attacked, called all sorts of names etc. whenever he went to work.

It was all wrong. He was not a miner, but he worked for the NCB (or British Coal as it became) as a geologist and then in coal marketing and preparation.

That strike really did kill deep pit mining :(

[V8MoneyPit]

Fair point. But are the strikers really that gullible? Maybe so.

[strapping young lad]

but isnt breaking the picket line more or less condemning you to be ostracised from your colleagues?

even though you want to work you have to stand outside

[V8MoneyPit]

That strike really did kill deep pit mining :(

My point exactly. I cannot see anything but grief coming from this.

[Evilgoat]

Sorry the Post office arew on Strike??? Err, how do I tell as the service I normally get from them is so dire anyway.

post *might* turn up once a week, if it does, its normally a huge wad of junk mail and a few bills anything up to a week late. It got to the point I was going to screw the letterbox in the door shut to get the posman to use the box screwed to the wall that he had to walk past to get to the door. (Dog eats post)

As for sending, out of 18 items sent through ebay

8 arrived when they should have
4 were held at the PO as they messed up and hand charged me enough. They were waiting for me to go back in to get it sorted, so they were a week late! 2 went missing completely (one has subsequently arrived 2 months late) and tracking numbers didnt exist. and 4 arrived smashed to peices.

People will choose the best service available for a given price, moment someone starts taking post other than Royal Mail they are screwed.

Its the same all over BT more or less have a monopoly and have NO customer service. Same with the banks. We put up with this rubbish though so nothing will change. Oh and prices will probobly go up again next year.

This kind of behaviour is only tolaerated as Royal Mail are an ex public organisation, they are used to stamping their feet and getting their way as it always worked in the past, now things are just falling apart.

Sack all the ingrates that think they should be paid more for underperforming and keep the guys that actually can do their jobs.

And fast, because if Capita get involved its all over but the crying.

[V8MoneyPit]

but isnt breaking the picket line more or less condemning you to be ostracised from your colleagues?

even though you want to work you have to stand outside

We are still getting deliveries. It's only the afternoon collections that are affected. Our postman takes the view that he cannot afford to loose 4 or 5 days pay so he carries on. He also take the view that striking has never worked before and how do they think it'll be any different this time? I don't know what his colleagues think of it though. Maybe I'll ask him tomorrow.

[dazzawhipple]

I had post today.... I also had a postie working for City link on friday to collect a few boxes,

Its a joke

[muddy4x4]

So 4 days strike cost £200 approx to each postman !
With Christmas coming will they be so eager to strike ?
Not only that but what about single parents who get CSA payments.
If wages drop below a certain amount those parents wont be paid.
I`m waiting for a parcel God knows when I will get it.
I paid for recorded, £20 yet it could be weeks before it arrives.
Royal Mail  

[dazzawhipple]

So 4 days strike cost £200 approx to each postman !
With Christmas coming will they be so eager to strike ?
Not only that but what about single parents who get CSA payments.
If wages drop below a certain amount those parents wont be paid.
I`m waiting for a parcel God knows when I will get it.
I paid for recorded, £20 yet it could be weeks before it arrives.
Royal Mail  

Most likley been dropped on its head :lol:  

[muddy4x4]

It`s a christmas present for my son

[Jesska]

I'm waiting for several cheques  

[V8MoneyPit]

I'm waiting for several cheques  

I wish I was  :lol: