[News] Royal Mail what next?

[Coldeanseagull]

The post office doesn't deliver mail and they are not on strike .

Nor at the moment are royal mail and they are shirking striking

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

The Royal Mail was privatized in 2013.

Christ.

 

[Hamilton]

Over the years thanks to other available communication options, delivery companies and people simply no longer letter writing Royal Mail
has had alter it's business model. When you look at other European countries and their door to door service delivery policy and with the proposal to drop Saturday delivery just how long will it be before it will simply be a Monday, Wednesday and Friday home delivery service ?

I wish email was simply Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

 

[Stat Brother]

Instead of striking and visiting food banks why not just seek better paid employment

If it were that easy wouldn't we all do it?

If a shitetonne of cash is being scraped off the top while what's underneath is being treated in a derisory manner, why should they just roll over and have their tummy tickled?

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

The Post Office is still state-owned though

Yes, I was talking about the Royal Mail strike. I don’t know why the post office was mentioned.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Instead of striking and visiting food banks why not just seek better paid employment

https://uk.indeed.com/Delivery-Driver-jobs-in-East-Sussex?vjk=300d0def79296e52

Yes, there is a labour shortage so that is a possibility. However the comparison used earlier in the thread was with the pay of senior executives. That’s an unobtainable career move.

 

[BNthree]

Yes, I was talking about the Royal Mail strike. I don’t know why the post office was mentioned.

Because Harry Wilson’s Tackle either confused the Post Office with Royal Mail or was being disingenuous.

 

[attila]

The race to the bottom is such a sad, demeaning spectacle. I grew up with it. Older relatives who fawned over the wealthy and privileged and were proud of their own subservience. It breaks my heart that it is still a thing today.
‘I grew up in a lake of maggot-ridden concentrated sulphuric acid with stalactites on the inside of the windows and paid my gaffer 5d a day to work for him. These strikers earn more in five minutes than I did in my entire working life and they have HOUSES to live in. Send in the Army.’
Obsequious rubbish.

The strikes currently taking place have been deliberately engineered by the Tories, knowing that their non dom billionaire press owner mates will spread lies and calumnies about the strikers for the Tories’ own political ends.
Bankers’ bonuses have no cap:
Essential workers get a clap.
Support the strikers.

 

[Baldseagull]

That’s the same in just about every business in every country in the world apart from North Korea. Sounds like your issue is with capitalism and you can’t change that by going on strike. I’m afraid what you are doing is unwinnable and abusing people who disagree won’t change a thing.

When the CEO's are getting a massive pay increase, and the workers are not, you end up with enormous disparity. Other countries do not allow excessive ratios of worker pay to CEO pay. If CEO pay is linked to worker pay, you will see worker pay rise. Who the shareholders are is also an issue in the Royal Mail case,
Royal mail bosses basic pay rose 3.6%, when workers were being offered 2% back in June. Royal Mail say the pay offer was worth 5.5% if you include bonuses, but they don't talk about the percentage increase the CEO has had if you include bonuses, £142,000 of his £753,000 remuneration package was a short term bonus, despite a number of targets having been failed to be met.
Back in September he was one of four directors to receive a bonus of shares worth £2.4M, whilst industrial action was ongoing, there is no justification to be offering workers below inflation rises and CEO's ever fatter rewards, and share holders taking high dividends.
Shareholders were paid a special dividend of £400M in 2021, in addition to the interim and final dividends, due to the rise in parcels delivered because of lockdown. Shareholders did not find themselves busier, or facing more human contact during a pandemic, yet they seem to have got all the rewards.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

When the CEO's are getting a massive pay increase, and the workers are not, you end up with enormous disparity. Other countries do not allow excessive ratios of worker pay to CEO pay. If CEO pay is linked to worker pay, you will see worker pay rise. Who the shareholders are is also an issue in the Royal Mail case,
Royal mail bosses basic pay rose 3.6%, when workers were being offered 2% back in June. Royal Mail say the pay offer was worth 5.5% if you include bonuses, but they don't talk about the percentage increase the CEO has had if you include bonuses, £142,000 of his £753,000 remuneration package was a short term bonus, despite a number of targets having been failed to be met.
Back in September he was one of four directors to receive a bonus of shares worth £2.4M, whilst industrial action was ongoing, there is no justification to be offering workers below inflation rises and CEO's ever fatter rewards, and share holders taking high dividends.
Shareholders were paid a special dividend of £400M in 2021, in addition to the interim and final dividends, due to the rise in parcels delivered because of lockdown. Shareholders did not find themselves busier, or facing more human contact during a pandemic, yet they seem to have got all the rewards.

Yes, I’m sure that’s all true but the fairness or otherwise of it all is not what drives the situation. Capitalism rewards scarcity and that include labour skills. The highest earners have skills that they can use elsewhere and they will. If people on the shop floor think they are being under valued then perhaps they should do the same. I don’t mean that in a cold hearted way but it just isn’t worthwhile working for an employer you feel you can’t trust and there is a labour shortage. At the end of the day the Royal Mail is just another delivery company.

 

[Brian Fantana]

Yes, I’m sure that’s all true but the fairness or otherwise of it all is not what drives the situation. Capitalism rewards scarcity and that include labour skills. The highest earners have skills that they can use elsewhere and they will. If people on the shop floor think they are being under valued then perhaps they should do the same. I don’t mean that in a cold hearted way but it just isn’t worthwhile working for an employer you feel you can’t trust and there is a labour shortage. At the end of the day the Royal Mail is just another delivery company.

Your final sentence would be disagreed with by pretty much all of the posties. They've traditionally perfomed a lot of duties that have gone largely unnoticed, such as being the recognisable face for many in communities as well as being someone who looks out for their older and more vulnerable customers - something that is totally different to how the other parcel companies operate. In many ways, it is RM's USP and it should be preserved. The issue on the other side of the argument is that the business model currenrtly doesn't stand up. We need an agreement that sort of preserves the best of both sides.

 

[vegster]

Good luck dragging the old lag unionites with you.

It's pretty obvious that Royal Mail will take advantage of the Government's retained EU Laws Bill currently going through Parliament. Going to end up with zero hours contracts and a bonfire of current rights.

That's what we are sleepwalking in to as a country now we have left the EU. ...

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

It's pretty obvious that Royal Mail will take advantage of the Government's retained EU Laws Bill currently going through Parliament. Going to end up with zero hours contracts and a bonfire of current rights.

That's what we are sleepwalking in to as a country now we have left the EU. ...

What’s the point of having the Brexit thread back on the main board if people are still going to contaminate other threads with it. It’s a rhetorical question by the way.

 

[Baldseagull]

Yes, I’m sure that’s all true but the fairness or otherwise of it all is not what drives the situation. Capitalism rewards scarcity and that include labour skills. The highest earners have skills that they can use elsewhere and they will. If people on the shop floor think they are being under valued then perhaps they should do the same. I don’t mean that in a cold hearted way but it just isn’t worthwhile working for an employer you feel you can’t trust and there is a labour shortage. At the end of the day the Royal Mail is just another delivery company.

It is worthwhile joining a union to protect you from the greed of the employer, whether employed by Royal Mail or any other delivery company. Many cases of companies operating cartels in certain industries to artificially keep prices high or wages low, just moving on is not as effective as standing and fighting, so long as the industry has the means to pay what you are asking for, in this case it does, or at least did, until strikes started costing the business.

 

[Baldseagull]

What’s the point of having the Brexit thread back on the main board if people are still going to contaminate other threads with it. It’s a rhetorical question by the way.

And yet it may be a factor in the delays to resolving strike issues being discussed here, so we can't pretend it isn't happening.

 

[vegster]

What’s the point of having the Brexit thread back on the main board if people are still going to contaminate other threads with it. It’s a rhetorical question by the way.

Ok, quick rewrite .... expect the worst for Royal Mail workers if the government's upcoming legislation to erode workers rights gets passed. ...hope that helps avoid your issue ?

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Ok, quick rewrite .... expect the worst for Royal Mail workers if the government's upcoming legislation to erode workers rights gets passed. ...hope that helps avoid your issue ?

Lovely

 

[Springal]

Back in September he was one of four directors to receive a bonus of shares worth £2.4M, whilst industrial action was ongoing, there is no justification to be offering workers below inflation rises and CEO's ever fatter rewards, and share holders taking high dividends.

not unusual for C Level or execs to get shares which typically vest over a period of time. They usually need to maintain a level of holding and of course the value of those shares are tied to market value so there is a lot on the line to perform. Also plenty of companies allow employees to buy shares at a discounted market rate (usually around 15%) and grant shares to employees at all levels for good performance

 

[ozzygull]

yay! My tickets turned up today.

 

[Baldseagull]

not unusual for C Level or execs to get shares which typically vest over a period of time. They usually need to maintain a level of holding and of course the value of those shares are tied to market value so there is a lot on the line to perform. Also plenty of companies allow employees to buy shares at a discounted market rate (usually around 15%) and grant shares to employees at all levels for good performance

A bit unhelpful, antagonistic even, to make the award during pay disputes with the Union.