Christmas approaches and the Communication Workers’ Union have, once again, voted to go on strike. So don’t expect to be able to send anything at Christmas, because the Royal Mail workers will all be tossing themselves off on their picket lines, complaining that they were not consulted by bosses as the company is using technology to replace staff.
Apparently, 25 of the top 100 companies whose mail is delivered by the Royal Mail have done deals to switch to other delivery companies, and according to Post-Switch (a consultancy that deals with companies wishing to change postal service provider) once a company leaves the Royal Mail, they never go back. Some of these companies are eBay, Argos and Amazon. Dutch giant TNT has also won contracts to deliver BT and British Gas bills – both of these were Royal Mail contracts – and it is angling for further deals.
Is it not time we banned this union culture and right to strike? Every year these bastards hold the country to ransom by withdrawing basic services at peak times, creating misery for everyone. It’ll achieve the effect they want, but it doesn’t make it right.
I agree with Lord Young, the postal affairs minister, where he says, “a national postal strike is completely self defeating and will only serve to hurt consumers and businesses who rely on the post and drive even more people away from using mail.”
Maybe when nobody is using the Royal Mail because of it’s crap, slow, unreliable service, the Communication Workers’ Union will realise that when in a business for which there is competition biting the hand that feeds you is rarely the best option. Sure, the Police and the Fire Brigade can get away with it, because the only alternative is the Army. But Royal Mail has umpteen competitors in delivery services – most of whom are operating at far superior efficiency levels to Royal Mail and all of whom can be relied upon not to go on strike.
Killing the Royal Mail by striking at key times is a sure fire way for workers to put their jobs on the line.
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What I really don’t understand is that we used to have such a fantastic postal service. Deliveries were prompt and reliable and postmen used to look out for signs of anything suspicious for householders. They were reliable friends.
Now you don’t know whether you’re going to get something that’s been posted or not – probably not on time. You no longer have to not have a criminal record to work there and luckily for me my dog caught one (who we’d never seen before or since) trying to get at least his hand in through a slightly open kitchen window whilst Mrs F vaccumed.
They used to be a service worth keeping in the public sector. Now they are idle layabouts and I no longer care about their working conditions or pay as they’ve made me that way.
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Exactly.
I blame unionism personally and I think it’s time it was banned and companies were allowed to do a Ronald Reagan and sack them all.
Unions only work when there is no competition, so teachers, police, fire service, and so on can hold us to ransom.
The postal service is no longer the national institution that it once was and now there are many other companies chomping at the bit for the business.
Businesses like Amazon are getting fed up of the postal workers always being on strike at Christmas and are making the switch to more reliable providers.
By making the Royal Mail a poor service and being unreceptive to modernisation, the staff are slitting their own throats as well as causing mayhem for people that want to send cards and presents at Christmas.
I agree with you, I don’t give a toss about their pay or conditions either.
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