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Original poster

grrrr royal mail strike!

151 replies

twinsetandpearls · 30/07/2007 18:39

I went to the post office today to pick up some parcels and they have all been lost andthe guy behind the counter shrugged and said that because of the strike they were not sorting mail and that lots of it had gone missing. He then turned his back on me and carried on chatting to his colleagues. There was a queue and all of us were told that our parcels had done missing.

As a public sector worker who would never go on strike over pay and is seeing cuts that really hurt society I am shocked by their complete disdain for the general public.

OP posts:
southeastastra · 30/07/2007 18:40

it's not great living with someone who is on strike either. and didn't want it

littlelapin · 30/07/2007 18:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

southeastastra · 30/07/2007 18:42

tomorrow

nutcracker · 30/07/2007 18:43

Different departments strike on different days. Next strike for postmen is Thursday I think.

SenoraPostrophe · 30/07/2007 18:44

it's not over pay though is it? It's about cutting even more jobs and so making service even worse in the long run (and pay as well, but I bet they wouldn't be on strike if that was the only issue). They have all my sympathy.

Peachy · 30/07/2007 18:44

Dh's premises is shared with TNT mail, one of their drivers was threatened by a postie for breaking the srike (not sugesting most would do this btw- sure was a one off incident) and the poor TNT Mail worker was really upset! Its not as if the TNT worers A) have anything to do with the Royal mail, and B) got a vote on the trike- so why should he ahve not worked?

A well known book vendor (not sure if officially news released yet) just signed a contract to use TNT Mail instead of Royal mail though, which says a lot about how the customers feel! And all ds3's birthday stuff was alte which may be minor but perhaps they'd like to explain that to a SN 4 year old?

Original poster
twinsetandpearls · 30/07/2007 19:08

The post office workers in general have my sympathy although as I said unless I thought that children were in danger or their education was in peril I would not go on strike.

But the workers in the office I worked in today took the piss quite frankly.

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Original poster
twinsetandpearls · 30/07/2007 19:10

Another minor thing but I need to explain to dd that she will not be getting her nintendo as it has been lost. There were also some very personal photographs that have also gone - personal as in precious not rude ones!

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MrsWeasley · 30/07/2007 19:10

Our local delivery isnt too good so its hard to tell if they are on strike or not.

Original poster
twinsetandpearls · 30/07/2007 19:10

Not to mention our airline tickets which now may also get lost, thankfully our disney tickets came this morning.

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southeastastra · 30/07/2007 19:11

it's probably caught in a backlog rather than lost

Original poster
twinsetandpearls · 30/07/2007 19:14

There words to me were
" We are not sorting anything until we get what we want. There is mail all over the place and stuff is definetly missing but that is not our problem"

He then laughed and turned his radio up and started chatting.

The woman before me had a child in tears because something of hers had gone missing and he just did not give a shit.

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Original poster
twinsetandpearls · 30/07/2007 19:15

He also said we are not doing anything other than sitting here until after August 5th - which is when we are on holiday - and they have my flippin miracle suit swimming costume so when I am fat on all my photos it is their fault - clearly not mine for eating all the pies

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Peachy · 30/07/2007 19:16

Our p[ostie refused to deliver to us due to our vicious dog

We don't HAVE a dog, on one occasion ds3 grabbed the letters as they came through the door, that was all.

generally I have sympathy- must be scary all thsoe job losses etc- I just fail to see how refusing to work and therefore allowing other competitors to take hige contracts / forcing people to find alternatives that they may well stick with (such as couriers) will help

Original poster
twinsetandpearls · 30/07/2007 19:20

The school I teach in is making cutbacks ,we are loosing four teachers every year and ten per cent of our support staff. Due to the nature of the kids I teach that means putting ourselves in danger and working all the hour god sends in very very difficult conditions but I am not going on strike as I care about giving a good service to the people that rely on me.

If things got to a state where we would go on strike - and it has been discussed - I would certainly never laugh in someones face.

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Peachy · 30/07/2007 19:22

(and in case i sound angry, its because we are having to contest ds3's statement as all the ALt reports were lost in the post and therfore not taken into account)

MrsMar · 30/07/2007 19:26

Being on strike is no need for bad attitude. I found a card saying royal mail attempted to deliver a parcel this morning, I was in all morning and they didn't ring the doorbell. Saw the postie out on his rounds so I collared him to see if I could collect the parcel from him. I couldn't because he didn't have it with him. His excuse was "oh no-one's ever in so I didn't bring the parcel with me". I skulked off, but wish I'd come up with a proper put down. What a shoddy service!

Original poster
twinsetandpearls · 30/07/2007 19:28

I think this has happened to me as I was in all day on the day the card was put through my door but I assumed I must have not heard it but I am beginning to wonder.

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SenoraPostrophe · 30/07/2007 19:34

twinset: the laughing was bad attitude, but I do think the strike is right in this instance.

tnt mail is a case in point actually: tnt don't even deliver mail. they just take it to the nearest royal mail depot. they're creaming off the most lucrative contracts, where the rm still have to provide the basic daily service (much as it's not as good as it used to be). TNT are now asking to be able to make door to door deliveries, but will they really deliver to rural areas where there's not much post? I doubt it.

Peachy · 30/07/2007 19:37

Actually TNT ahve just hired their first postal peolpe, although nto sure when they go online

Peachy · 30/07/2007 19:38

(IIRC its a link between them and a milk delivery agency but Dh doesn't always discuss if that ahs changed as he works for the offshoot contractual side, CIVA, they just share premises now)

Original poster
twinsetandpearls · 31/07/2007 13:04

My mind is not made up abput this strike, I can't detach it really from my own very strong feelings about striking in my profession and why it should be different for others who provide a public service.

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HappyDaddy · 31/07/2007 13:59

They don't have my sympathy at all I'm afraid. They've had it too cushy for years.

In the private sector, you have jobcuts and shitty pensions and suchlike. If you go on strike, you are sacked.

Original poster
twinsetandpearls · 31/07/2007 14:02

my dp works in the private sector and the shop floor workers seem to go on strike for fun.

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Lolly68 · 31/07/2007 14:08

No sympathy whatsoever. Get back to work that's what I think.

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