UK Postal strike

They... they only have to work some odd 37 hours a week, right? Why on earth would they complain about that?

I'm slightly pissed, but of course I would be seeing as I was planning to start submitting to agents in a week or two. I'm tempted to email some agents and ask if it's okay for me to hand-deliver my stuff, as long as I promise not to hassle them. Surely they won't care if I just put my work in their postbox and go on my way? I don't want them to think I'm pushy, but I have no idea when this strike will clear up. I heard it might last till Christmas. And I refuse to use couriers, 'cause their prices are just ridiculous unless you're transporting really big or heavy goods.

I think striking is kind of archaic in this day and age, and it's inconsiderate for them to disrupt the whole country just to satisfy their own ends. But at the same time, I understand that sometimes you have to go to drastic measures to make yourself heard. Still, it kind of sucks. I don't think they're quite as hard-done by as certain other professions are. I mean, they knew what they were getting into when they took the job.

I hope it is resolved very soon. If it happened here, it would be very difficult for us.

I've yet to see a strike that I disagreed with.

It's funny (and sad) how non-union people think unions are spoiled just because they have a semblance of what a worker should have . . . as if they like things the way they are because that's all they're ever going to have.

Hopefully militant labour is on the upswing.

I'm fucking sick of these layabouts striking. And it's always at the time of year when they're most needed.

I have absolutely no sympathy for them. Never have, never will. 37 hours a week contract? And they complain that they're not getting off early?

Bunch of workshy bastards.

dpaterso said:

Yeah, who on earth would complain about having to get up at 3am every morning to sort through piles of mail before tramping around the streets in all weathers to deliver said mail directly to their customers' letterboxes? Sounds like a fabulous job!

-Derek

Click to expand...

If I got paid their money, I'd do it.

First off, I hope this strike is resolved soon, I can't imagine the havoc of no mail delivery.

seun said:

Until recently, they were free to finish work if they finished their deliveries early. So, technically they could be done for the day an hour before they stopped getting paid.

.

Click to expand...

Some workers are just quicker and even more efficient than others. In a merchandising job I had recently, I was actually trained to pace myself. I'm a quick worker, and consistently accomplished my assigned tasks faster than most. What a nice reward it would have been to get off a bit early. Instead, I was trained to basically waste time and stretch out my day-either that or get put on a part time schedule. It was frustrating, I do not like wasting time, especially on the clock. And it irked me that the other reps were so lazy and unethical as to just accept this.
Not all jobs are like this, but some jobs are better suited as paid for the completion of the task, (salaried,) rather than hourly. Aren't UK postal workers on salary? I'm pretty sure they are in the U.S.

I just hope they get it sorted. The last strike caused me some real hassle because the mail was so backed up and so many things went missing. This time I have letters from work, possibly some from the hospital, and several books ordered for university, and I have no guarantee that they will ever turn up. I wouldn't mind the strike so much, I think, if the post were actually reliable at other times, but I just seem to have hassle with them all the time. Then again I think Glasgow came near to the bottom in terms of service when they did the last survey.

They better bloody get their arses in gear. I'm waiting on a new contract from work. I only know it's coming because my boss phoned me to tell me it was on its way.

I was recently subjected to a long diatribe from my postman, who warned me that this strike was impending. I made the mistake of going out to get something from the car while he was sauntering up the drive.

He was moaning about how bosses were now insisting that they actually worked their 37 hours instead of delivering the mail as quick as they could (in his case four hours per day) and then fucking off to the pub (in his case every day).

His main beef seemed to be that this new work to rule would eat into his drinking time. Changed days. It used to be the unions who threatened work to rule, rather than the bosses insisting on it.

I've never been so glad to see the wife in my life. She saved me from listening to his complaints any longer, and she then helped me remove the noose that I'd looped around my neck and was shortly about to attach to a tree.

scarletpeaches said:

I'm fucking sick of these layabouts striking. And it's always at the time of year when they're most needed.

I have absolutely no sympathy for them. Never have, never will. 37 hours a week contract? And they complain that they're not getting off early?

Bunch of workshy bastards.

Click to expand...

And imagine, in France it's 35 hours per week and there are political parties who are pushing for 30. I do that in two days.

Os.

I hope my bill payments haven't got lost. They got sent off just before the strike, but as first class doesn't necessarily mean things arrive the next day anymore, they may not have arrived. I don't want to pay over the phone and have two payments go out (although I suppose I could cancel the cheques out there)

They're supposed to be back at work today, but if they've got more strikes planned in a way they'll shoot themselves in the foot. Amazon are guaranteeing the strike won't disrupt deliveries overmuch (and they already courier a lot of parcels); if more companies bypass Royal Mail and go with couriers/ home delivery peeps then RM will lose (more) money, and get rid of more people/ streamline costs more. Bit of a vicious circle.

seun said:

Oh my God. Please tell me that's a joke. And if not, did you tell the lazy bastard to get back to work?

Click to expand...

The only stretching of the truth was the bit about the noose. That was just how I felt listening to him.

And I did mention that in most jobs you started and finsihed at set hours, as set out in the contract -- something aling the line of ' wish I had a job where I could finish at that time, etc.' It didn't register.

seun said:

I remember strikes when I was a kid. Although I didn't know anything about the reasons behind them (or care much. I had The Beano to read and that was more important), the general feeling seemed to be the management were the bad guys and the strikers were justified.

Now, it's the other way around. Especially if these lazy gits want to get paid after they finish for the day.

Click to expand...

Interesting point. It does seem to be the other way around which would probably provoke some insight as to why if I were a little more intelligent.

Os.

I just heard on BBC London that they've started striking again because their starting time was changed from 5am to 6am. News article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7037052.stm

I'm sure there are postal workers among the strikers who are just as pissed off as the rest of us. Going on strike for five days may be a nice break but if you're a postman (sorry, posting resources support officer) then chances are you've got bills to pay. I haven't noticed much of a disruption except to my damn lovefilm rentals which I'm paying for but not receiving.

RLSMiller said:

I just heard on BBC London that they've started striking again because their starting time was changed from 5am to 6am. News article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7037052.stm

Click to expand...

Ah, see, now they're just taking the piss.

When they got rid of the second post, that mail didn't just disappear. What happened is that posties now have to lug around everything they used to do in two separate bits before.

To compensate, management offered what was called "job and finish." Basically, once you're done with your round, you can go home. As a result, you had lots of carriers coming in one to two hours before their shifts started. The bosses saw all these guys finishing "early" and visions of cost savings started dancing in their heads. The result is, sadly, history.