Andrew,
People fought long and hard for the right to belong to trade unions.

When we are in the middle of a recession, and many large employers are using that recession as an excuse to undermine the terms and conditions of their employees, while their execs take home huge bonuses, to dismiss trade unionism so lightly is a mistake.

We need unions now more than at any time in decades.

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Andrew finch said:

“YES right, actors involved in politics ………..I am afraid it is 2009 time to privatise, time to modernise, no time for unions.”

Perhaps you could tell us why Jacqueline and Pete are any less entitled to express an opinion on this than you or I?

I agree with them and Peter on this and wish the postmen every success in their fight.

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‘Support our postal workers’?

We don’t currently have any because they’re all standing around in the streets bullying pepole into supporting them by disrupting lives on a national scale

My employer has fought hard this year to reduce costs instead of jobs and now we’re being forced to despatch by more expensive carriers instead of by post. I’m sure a lot of other companies are having to do the same thing – thanks for thinking of our jobs Royal Mail!

No-one who strikes gets my support and it’s about time Royal Mail was privatised – it’s a business not a charity – if you don’t like the pay & conditions work elsewhere and let someone more thankful of having a job have the opportunity

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” The Royal Mail is a valuable and essential publicly-owned service with a committed workforce that deserves the public’s support”.

Yes, that is the opening paragraph of this idiotic letter, these workers are so “committed” that they have the worst strike record of any union in recent times, with over 1 million days lost in the past few years. They are the car workers all over again and have learned nothing, perhaps when fifty thousand or so are out of work they will realise that stupid sheep they were to follow their thick Union leaders who, with their massive salaries, have nothing whatever to lose by calling strikes.
When will workers learn that they have a vested interest in the efficiency of their employer and if, by irresponsible action, they reduce that efficiency, only they are to blame when their jobs go. No sympathy at all with them, sack them.

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Let’s modernise and privatise the Royal Mail and maybe employ more cheap labour with ethnic minorities and eastern European workers with a sprinkle of a few Chinese workers. They are able to live on little money by bunking together. Then let’s change the colour of the Royal Mail van from red to a bright multi-coloured van. Perhaps drop the Royal name and replace it with Postie.
Of course, like all privatisation the standards will sink and the costs will spiral upwards. Your letters or identity will not be safe anymore. The cowboy postie can join the rest of them i.e. cowboy builder, plumber etc

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Anyone who doesn’t think that some businesses – large and small are not using the recession as an excuse for reducing workers pay and terms & conditions cannot be living on the real world.
I have personally experienced and seen my friends subject to… changed contracts to extend the working day and days of the week covered in standard hours (including Sundays and no right to refuse!), no pay rises and increased workloads as well as other changes designed to undermine working conditions. The aim is to make workers leave without redundancy payments in a put up or shut up move.
When a workforce is seen to stand together with their union to fight against these type of changes it is said they should consider themselves lucky to have a job and anyone on the ‘dole’ would do this work! Hmmm I wonder how many would give up their benefits to get up in the early hours of the morning and deliver post in all weathers … No I’m not a Royal Mail employee!

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‘Employers only recognise a union if they choose to.’
Andrew, you need to brush up on employment law. If 51% of your employees join a union and demand recognition of that union, the employer has to give it and negotiate on a collective basis. with the Union.

Only the very worst sort of sweatshop, minimum wage employers refuse to engage with modern trade unions. Even vehemently anti-union companies such as Walmart (who own ASDA) understand that in this country we have laws about that sort of thing.

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Peter recognise and then ignore it , I can assure you in your mind the ones that do this may be sweat shops but in reality they are not . No sympathy for this action and many will not give one jot when the jobs are gone .As for asda yes recognise shop workers union but they sure a hell will not let the union dictate to them .

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Andrew,
I am sure there are plenty of so-called employers who like to pay staff the minimum wage (grudgingly), restrict their leave to the absolute minimum, subject them to 12-month contracts (to restrict redundancy and other rights), and generally treat their staff like goods and chattels.

Do they get the best from the people they employ? I very much doubt it. Employers who value loyalty and commitment, and understand that modern trade unions can be a valuable asset to worker and employee alike, are far more likely to get the best from their employees, and thus, to prosper.

Take the complex area of health and safety legislation for employers. Would you prefer to pay through the nose for expensive consultants to advise how you can stay witihn the law, or would it be better to engage with employees and their union to get the same advice for free or for a fraction of the cost?

I think there is a simple rhetorical moral question every employer should ask themselves:

Am I really taking my profit from the goods, services or expertise that my company provides? Or am I making that profit effectively from treating my employees badly?

If the answer is the former, then you are a responsible employer – if the latter, then you are an exploiter and in effect making your money by parasitism.

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Brian 2,

Need Royal Mail? What do we need them for? With the advent of email and other technological advances I don’t know anyone who uses the post to send documents anymore (unless they need a signature on delivery if it ever gets there at all!) They lose mail frequently and if it’s registered post they don’t even track it – hmm why the extra charge then? My offices are lucky to get their post anywhere before 11.30am and the sorting office is never open for me to collect my parcels! My employer has trialled using the Royal Mail for small parts deliveries this year but we are considering switching back to more expensive carriers on the basis that the service received from Royal Mail is diabolical – believe me, as an accountant if I had a pound for every cheque I issued that had gotten lost in the post I wouldn’t need to work for living !

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Classic, our sales director in Yorkshire has just called me to say he has received in the post today a set of expenses posted to him by a rep in Middlesex that were mailed first class on the 5th October!

Need I say more?

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Brian 2

I sent to the Daily Mail tokens and a cheque by registered delivery – Royal Mail lost – when I asked them to trace it they replied and I quote’registered delivery isn’t tracked’. So why was I conned into paying an extra charge for no extra service? i was offered 12 1st c lass stamps as compensation – what so they can lose more of my post? And I can assure you we do pay our bills on time and do not use the ‘cheque lost in the post’ as a line! The fact of the matter is if they want to be paid a decent wage for doing a decent job then they need to provide a decent service which they currently do not but still, think of all that lovely lolly the workers will get in overtime picking up the backlog they created!

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Brian2,

I said registered not recorded delivery which the unapologetic man at Wellington sorting office told me was not tracked in April when they lost my letter.

If your customers are using the ‘cheque lost in post’ excuse not to pay you, as an accountant and credit controller, can suggest you do as I did 2 years ago and offer them the bacs facility to pay you? They can even fax or email their remittances and with online banking you can check the payment has come in. Our customers are happy that their accounts don’t go on stop for non-payment because the cheque they issued has been lost in transit! I also pay 95% of our suppliers by bacs including the Inland revenue and VAT. I issue a very small number of cheques as result and surprise I’ve had one returned today as addresse gone away. Phoned supplier who has not moved premises in the last 6 years and yes the cheque was printed and clear!

I don’t want Royal Mail to disappear either but they are first and foremost a business and with reducing turnover they must provide a good service all the time which they have not done for many years now which is why people have turned to alternatives and why they must now cut jobs to reduce costs against a decreasing turnover. Fact of business life, particularly in a recession

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