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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 · 01/08/2007 17:54

my mission this summer is to find him another job. i would like something resembling a family life whilst the children are still smallish.

mm22bys · 01/08/2007 17:54

They didn't have it till today, but they've got my sympathy...

I heard an old guy giving a postie a hard time about being on strike, and the postie said they aren't getting any deliveries either, and that each time they go on strike they lose pay. He also said that he has five kids, and gets £240 a week.

How anybody survives on that in inner London I don't know (I am clueless but with five kids would not he get more on benefits?).

I know what the argument is though - he could always get himself a "better" job (no guesses for whose voice on here is saying that!).

Peachy · 01/08/2007 18:01

I can see the family thing, shifts must be horrensodous- no idea about tnt mail, dh's shifts in CEVA (newspapers, amgazine etc) are 4 days on 4 days off 12 hour shifts which is a pin, but only half the time iyswim. Does mean I have to bereallyca reful about scheduling things (as he neds the car and we live a few miles from anywhere) but that's about it. Dh does work permamnent nights though, so I I were working (student) would be harder.

Must be ahrd living on those wages, did see that back along and think its pretty apthetic for what they do.

keep looking in agnecy wondows etc- often the best way.

DH is looking too, but because of eprmanent nights (new baby on the way and I'll need him in the evenings as that's when ds1 kicks off)

saggarmakersbottomknocker · 01/08/2007 18:07

It's certainly not an easy decision to strike. No pay is just the tip of the iceberg, the bad feelings when some of the workforce strike and others don't can go on for a long time.

And shift work is a real pain. Sympathy to you southeastastra.

TSaP - sorry about your experience today. Not all posties hold the public in such contempt.

LowFatPumpkinJuice · 02/08/2007 10:32

DH shifts are great for out family - we have kind of built our routines on them, including the hours I work, so to be told RM want to change them without any notice or consultation is a real blow.

RM pay also sucks, luckily DH managed to work his rota week off (5 6-days weeks on 1 off) to cover for the pay he would loose while on strike. However he is completely knackered now.

However he has been with them for nearly 18 years and wants to stick it out for redundancy....should it come his way, before he goes looking for another job. I am going to mention TNT to him too.

I doubt he will get redundancy, because apart from striking he never goes sick unless he can't walk and has always given his job 100% - even though he says he can't stand it! And rumour has it they want to loose those with more colourful careers with them - shall we say!

And whenever we are out we are always bumping in to DH's customers, they always come up to him and say hello, he seems really popular with them! At Christmas he gets loads of gifts and one group of neighbours he delivers to even buy for our children - they missed him when he was on paternity leave for both DD and DS - and since they found why he was off have sent gifts for them at Christmas ever since.
One pensioner last year gave him £20. DH did'nt realise how much it was until he got home and was horrified, he tried to give it back to her the next day and she refused telling him he was 'undervalued'
I think being told things like that by his customers is the only part of his job he likes. And I know he goes out of his way for them, and will call back at the end of a round with a parcel if he has time etc.

tjacksonpfc · 02/08/2007 11:05

my dp also works for royal mail and is one of the posties that isnt out on strike as he is not a union member. and the strikes are affecting him aswell at the end of the day the pay increase which will be capped is a joke as the wages are bad enough as it is at the moment any way my dp is working 6 days a week at the moment so we cab afford a holiday. im sorry but living with a postie they have my full backing

Beauregard · 02/08/2007 11:08

Horrible situation for my dp
He went on strike for the first 2 but we really cannot afford for him to strike anymore,so against his own wishes he has to go in and risks being targeted ,bullied,alienated.
For some strange reason Jo Public asume that posties are on great money

Beauregard · 02/08/2007 11:09

The one thing that really pisses me off is that dp would like to retrain in IT but is always so bloody knackered because he has to get up at 3.30 every day .

expatinscotland · 02/08/2007 11:11

Arrgggh! DH had to send off his photocard license so a new endorsement could be added - he's now able to drive a larger vehicle/more passengers - and it's been sent back, but no telling when he'll get it.

Tinker · 02/08/2007 11:15

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

What kind of logic is that? Let's all aspire to be like teh crappiest employers?

MellowMa · 02/08/2007 11:16

Message withdrawn

LowFatPumpkinJuice · 02/08/2007 11:35

DH came back from strike today at 8.30am - hence me being in work early as my boss has kindly offered me a bit of overtime to make up the loss.

DH reckons this will be the last one as it doesnt seem to be having an effect.

Alan Leighton is a complete...well I can't bring my self to type the rude words I would like to use, but everywhere he's joined and run he has ruined

LowFatPumpkinJuice · 02/08/2007 11:36

Oh and am sorry for those of you who's DH's are going to get grief for going in on a strike day.

DH's coleagues seem quite a nice bunch and they all know it a financial strain to strike so don't give anyone crap if they say they can't.

Original poster
twinsetandpearls · 02/08/2007 13:56

For some towns a posties wage isa good one, I know not many of the kids I teach will ever earn what a postie earns and very few will ever have a pension.

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LowFatPumpkinJuice · 02/08/2007 14:01

Twinset - not many posties are gonna have a pension either if RM get they're way!

FWIW I consider £240 a week for 41 hours work - some in unsociable hours - in all weathers and all physically demanding and wearing (how many posties could I tell you about who have knee and back problems) a very bad wage!

clutteredup · 02/08/2007 14:06

just found this thread, i'd wondered why we had no post today, usually get unaddressed junk if nothing else, hey ho less for the recycle bin

southeastastra · 02/08/2007 14:09

i'll help you lowfatpumpkinjuice

Alan Leighton is a complete...fuckwit

madmumof5 · 02/08/2007 14:10

there was post in derby areas today

LowFatPumpkinJuice · 02/08/2007 14:11

Well said Southeastastra!

I am at work and must watch my P's and Q's!

LowFatPumpkinJuice · 02/08/2007 14:12

Madmum - perhaps you have non-strikers or non-union members.

Peachy · 02/08/2007 14:27

The pensions thing is limited to Rm though is it? My Dad is at retirement age, BOTH the pensions he accumulated have crashed in the last few years, he won't get th government compensation (which is little anyway) as his were lost not by the publicise route but an alternative one (both companies sold out to foreign owners in countries where there was no law preventing them crashing the pensions. The country was the US)

We spent all our childhood with Mum and Dad not buying a house, having a car / taking holidays as they preferred to make maximum payments and have a bright retirement Mum and Dad get housing benefit in the next few months, they'll be on benefits for ever

Which doesn't make it any better for the Posties but does show they're not in an isolated situtation.

Peachy · 02/08/2007 14:28

ISN'T limted, sorry- makes me sound aggressive when I wasn't tryng to be

Original poster
twinsetandpearls · 02/08/2007 14:29

I am not saying it is a good wage in reality but in this town to be on a posties wage is to have made it.

I am not saying they don;t work hard, I know I would not like to do it but in this town it is seen as job you are lucky to get which may be why the people in the queue at our post office were less symapthetic than other may have been.

I have to say however as a teacher I have worked more than 41 hours a week for less than £240 a week but that is another thread.

OP posts:
Original poster
twinsetandpearls · 02/08/2007 14:36

You are right that pensions is an issue acroos the nation, my mum has worked almost all her life and has no pension because her company won't let any more people join, her pension from her marriage disapeared and she spent time at home with children.

Job security is a thing of the past as well, in my school there is no such things as job security as they are laying of teachers left right and centre. I work in a town where there are very few jobs that pay over £15K a year - if I loose my job I will not get another in this town and we could very esaily loose our house. Every day that I go into work I face malicious allegations ( I have been a victim of this) violence ( been a victim of this too), verbal abuse and unbelieveable stress trying to manage an unworkable workload. I admit I have a cushy pension but as new teachers join that is changing. I am not trying to do one upmanship as I know that I have to accept a lot of the above as I earn a very good wage but the point I am making is that all of our jobs are changing before our eyes, getting harder but we can't all go on strike.

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cheechymunchy · 02/08/2007 14:36

I'm going to be selfish and say that I'm f*ing furious with them. I leave the Uk for ever on Tuesday, and thanks to them, none of my insurance paperwork is through, nor my Inland Revenue stuff. We've got so much paperwork missing and now it won't arrive before we leave. I've paid up for 6 months of mail redirection to new country, but what's the bet they won't even do this?
[stomps off in fury in the direction of biscuit tin]