Letters Extra
Delivery method trials
Near the front doors in our office there’s a RM propaganda poster stating ‘Everybody likes door to doors’ – but in my 15-year experience it is only RM that likes them because they get the revenue from a market they cannot afford not to be part of. In reality posties dislike them as a huge waste of time in a much overloaded day – as do the public who want to cut out all unnecessary rubbish in their lives. If they want radiators or blinds or another broadband network they know very well how to go and find them.
The two-page article about amalgamating D2Ds into our delivery day in the last issue of The Voice really demonstrates the amount of (wasted) effort that has gone into trying to deal with unwanted paper adverts.
The 3 offices you describe in detail (from the 8 that your sub-headline mentions), according to your figures employ around 220 staff all trialling ‘new delivery methods’ to try to integrate these leaflets, which is really nothing but a distraction from our real work.
They are trying various methods eg. pre-nested D2Ds in bundles to go with pre-bundled mech letters, and variations on this theme. Missorts are weeded out but no mention at all is made of that Top 5 cause of customer complaints . . . REDIRECTIONS !!!
On my RM2000 I know each and every name and address of all my (current) dozen or so Redirects and I weed them out as I throw any mail in. Under these ‘new methods’ this would not happen, unless I were to sift through the mail ‘on the desk’, and how long would that take! By the time I have done that I might as well throw it in!
Further, any rotational sub or ad hoc reserve will certainly not know the Redirects so how are they supposed to complete this crucial task if they simply gather all the mech mail into bundles without scrutiny? Should they carry the redirect info as another (3rd or 4th) bundle and sort it out on the doorstep? Ridiculous!
Moreover it is all very well attempting to assimilate D2Ds in any other way than directly into the frame when you don’t have many but, as frequently occurs in our office, when there are 4 or more per household, some of which (adult education evening class prospectus, local council magazine, County Police info, Salvation Army clothing bags etc) consist of bulk, it is like carrying a small newspaper to each DP; your D2D bundle will be far bigger than the letters bundle! AND you’ll have to go to every DP, even those without letters.
Finally, on page 9 of the last Voice you mention that Stoke Newington office has a ‘non-D2D day’.
How does that happen? Can we have one please? It would make my week!
-Simon Rickman OPG, Wellingborough PDO
Outdoor secretary Mark Baulch responds:
“Thank you for your letter regarding D2D and Redirections. Part of the Guiding Principles Agreement reached last year committed the CWU to trials of new working methods that the company had been looking to introduce for some time. In order to achieve the first hours reduction of the Shorter Working Week, the trials had to commence as enabler for the first hours reduction. Royal Mail have long held the view that an enormous amount of money could be saved by not putting already sequenced mails into a RM2000 frame and in order to test that theory, we asked our members in a number of locations to trial these methods which are described in the article. Whilst recognising the difficulties that some D2D products create for our members, we do not however determine what customers of Royal Mail choose to pay or indeed what to post, nor do the people receiving the items. Therefore, if a curtain, blind, or radiator retailer wants to advertise in this fashion, we would have to question ourselves as a responsible trade union if we wanted to tell the employer that we don’t want this type of work. That would not be responsible in our view, and would also potentially threaten our own members’ pay, terms and conditions along with jobs!
Turning to redirections, your observations have also been picked up by the many people that are participating and overseeing the trials and together with a whole host of other issues, have informed the review of the trials that was undertaken late last year. In order to flush out these problems, you have to trial them properly in order to achieve proof of concept or otherwise, which was the story here in many cases.
The non D2D day is possible by managing your delivery of the items over fewer days as long as the items are delivered by the end of the week, which is still an agreement between the CWU and the company.”
Thank you CWU
I would just like to express my thanks to Cheryl Auty, my local CWU rep here in Tallents House, Edinburgh, who along with her colleagues assisted me during meetings whilst I was on long term sick and on my return to work.
I was off for just under 6 months with work related stress after problems with a new job I had been put into. I have now returned to work and hopefully things will get better. Unfortunately there are still other issues in my unit with regard to the way staff are treated by management and we are waiting to see what happens next, it is in the hands of HQ.
Until Royal Mail decides to treat all its staff better I do not see a future for this business. The culture of them and us and of bullying, aggressive management must change.
-David Bryden, Edinburgh
Why do so many pensioners vote Tory?
Having just read the article headed ‘Why do so many pensioners vote Tory?’ it has left me with a question about the survey which is, were the pensioners asked a supplementary question, ‘Have you changed your voting preference from when you were younger’?
If not, why did they vote Tory in full knowledge of Tory attitudes?…or was it the fact that all the right-wing press were telling us about the ‘Reds under the beds’?
If, on the other hand, they have changed their opinion, what advantages do they see in the way the country is now run? I¹d like to know what they think these improvements are, as I certainly cannot see any!
-R Jones, North Yorkshire
Senior deputy general secretary Tony Kearns responds: “R Jones from Yorkshire raises a number of important points regarding the voting preferences of older voters. He is quite right to point out that the survey does not establish whether or not older individuals changed their voting preferences from when they were younger. In fact some critics of the survey have said because of that it loses some of its value. As far as we are aware the survey has not attempted to clarify this in a supplementary question. R Jones’s point regarding the influence of the right-wing press is well made and what advantage do they ‘see in the way the country is now run’ is another important question. However the overriding lesson of the survey is that this problem needs the urgent attention of the Labour Party and trade union movement. Why are voters more likely to support the Conservatives than Labour, the older they get, and how can the labour movement tackle this?”
TPO REMEMBERED
January 4, 2019 marked the 15th anniversary of the cessation of the Travelling Post Office (TPO). These overnight trains ran all over the British Isles carrying and sorting the mail throughout the night. It took a certain kind of person to love the job, as most of us did. The 520 staff came from all parts of the country and had all sorts of distant points to stay during the day before making the return overnight journey. Needless to say, travelling in teams the comradeship amongst us was second to none in this very unique job.
I personally had the privilege of working on the TPOs for 34 years and being the Area Rep for the last four years to the cessation of the TPO in January 2004. Representing and visiting staff on the various trains from as far away as Glasgow, Edinburgh, Plymouth, Swansea, Cardiff, Norwich, Penzance, Dover, Carlisle, Birmingham, London etc was an absolute pleasure and one I will always have fond memories of. No North/South divide here.
The ceasing of the TPOs brought upon us a very difficult time but with the support I received from the loyal TPO staff, my superb local reps and help of our CWU through the dedicated brilliant work of Bob Gibson we fortunately secured an exceptional package to suit all. Without the CWU none of this would have been possible.
I must also say a big thank you to Dave Ward and Norman candy for their assistance as well.
To all of you at CWU house, those retired and those I travelled with I am eternally grateful and miss you all and the days of travelling together.
-Roy Dixie Hertfordshire