Walk-out by postal staff hits Midlands
Monday 28th September 2009, 11:30AM BST.
Postal strikes were under way in the Midlands today as the threat of national action looms ever closer. It is in response to changes to working pratice.
Walkouts were staged in Coventry and North Staffordshire.
The 24-hour walkout started at 6am today with HGV drivers in Birmingham striking from 4am tomorrow.
Lee Barron, Midlands regional secretary for the Communication Workers Union (CWU), said: “This all relates to managerial changes. The jobs our members are performing have been changed – things like attendance patterns and working days – without consultation.”
Across the country, around 25,000 workers are striking today and tomorrow, which is expected to cause huge backlogs.
Ballots on a national strike close on October 8 and could see 130,000 workers walk out nationwide.
Talks took place between Royal Mail management and the CWU at a national level last week and negotiations are continuing this week.
Royal Mail has attacked the CWU’s strike ballot, which it says is “totally unjustified” and damaging to customers. Royal Mail claim the strike in Birmingham will not affect the delivery or collection of mail.
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Well sack em
2 million on the dole could do the job
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you are lucky to have jobs you inconsiderate bunch. hope my applications to jobs are not affected by this, what a selfish act in this current climate. jerks
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In this day & age you would think these people would be glad to have a job & a nice upcoming pension. Unfortunately these people don’t live in the real world, probably never heard of the worldwide recession & that over 2 million people want their jobs.
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Petenojob and other moaners, you wouldn’t last 5 minutes on the Posties job.
Try it yourself at Christmas they are looking for extra staff and see what you think then.
What other way than striking can these people protect their jobs, please let me know.
ps I am not a postie nor married to one.
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Inappropiate action. I agree with 1 as there are plenty that could do with work
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They dont deserve more money i used to be able to get my mail before i went to work at 8 now i have to wait till i get home as they dont come till 9.30 the lazy arses. Sack them theres plenty out of work that would snap there hands off in second for a job
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Dave-your lucky try anywhere between 11 and 12pm for us. Thank god for email and paperless bills. They should think themselves lucky to have jobs,especially as most mail seems to going electronic these days (far more efficient than mr Posty as well)
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English exile,
If you are not a postman, how do you know the Great British Public wouldn’t last 5 minutes delivering post & avoiding Dogs?
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6 you lucky you get it at 9.30
mine, its anytime upto 2.30-3.00
But come on, you cant blame the workers, its the management who are to blame. They are the same everywhere you go with the attitude of ‘do it our way or go’. If they go, it makes the management figures look good. They do not care about the workers or the customers, its only their figures they are concerned about.
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4…englishexile.. dont make me laugh…i know several posties in my area and they are done and dusted by half one. they say its a great job once they are out the sorting office…i would be grateful for the chance to work in the busy xmas period.. 20 years in heavy industrial labour industry until this year….im sure i could cope with a few letters. stop talkin pony.
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The strike is not about wages. The reason your getting your mail later and later is new working practises being imposed by the management.In general Posties want to start early and finish early.In Wolverhampton we are not allowed to leave the sorting office until 9.30.Then you have to travel to where your delivering A delivery walk takes an absolute minimum of 3 1/2 hours So some customers will not get their mail until after 1.30pm.Then they have to cover for anyone who hasn’t turned in without getting paid for it.Thats why there might be a National Strike
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Personally, I wouldn’t mind if I never got any mail again, be honest, when was the last time you received a LETTER, all I ever get is bills and junk mail!!!
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Being an ex-postie myself, the moaners on here would not last 2 mins on a walk! I have seen grown men of over 6 foot and built like brick out houses burst into tears and walk off saying ‘i can’t do it’ when faced with the mountain these poor souls have to packhorse around day in day out! I am 100% behind them! The management are no less than a bunch of pathetic cowardly unintelligent bullies! Who are generally too busy fulfilling personal vendettas to actually ‘manage’. You whingers haven’t got a clue! i bet you’ve never actually done a days graft in your life! Now go back to watching jeremy kyle!
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Von-Funkenstein While understand what pat-comment11 has said you are talking mish mosh mate. Perhaps when you were a posty lots of mail was being delivered. Nowadays you don’t even have half the amount you used to deliver. Lots of people get email paperless bills now so thats less for you to carry. Junk mail has been cut back on so thats less for you to carry as well. I see our post man walking around when i am on holiday and he certainly doesn’t look that bogged down with mail riding his bike around the estate. I’m not saying they don’t work hard like we all do but for you to say we wouldn’t last well what do you think being a postman is all about?? The royal marines!!
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re watchin jeremy kyle… i actually applied by post to appear on the show to get some much needed money about 3 months ago…he obviously still has not got my letter thanks to your idle overpaid monkeys at the post!!!!
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Lazy posties wanting to stay in bed later and get paid more?…… maybe you should find out the facts before spurting rubbish. Then again.. who needs actual facts when you can just moo and bleat total crud instead…
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brian, post 14 seems to think posties deliver less these days because of email & whatnot. Wrong. The junk mail & catalogues for fat ladies who won’t walk to shops still weigh us down. There’s more in weight due to these fat-alogues and an increase in parcels from online shopping. Our bags haven’t been re-designed to cope with this change. If you see a postie with an almost empty bag, he/she is about to refill it to continue their job. On a good day that can involve 4 or more. I’d provide more details but we posties are bound by the Official Secrets Act, whereas ‘armchair experts’ who have never done the job aren’t.
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After working for royal mail for several years the managers are in the wrong 100% yet again.
The strikes will upset a lot of customers but we need to think of the postal staff who are been bullied daily by so called management.
The managers only think of themselves.
GO ON POSTIES AND FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS.
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I agree with 13 im an ex postie / manager and the management are to busy sorting there own sex life out with other members of staff / management than doing the job they are paid to do.
All they want to do is BULLY the posties and im right behind the posties it a hard job thats why when staff are on strike the management dont take a walk out they only take the 1st class and stuff that needs to be signed for because they cant do the job posties do BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOT GOT A CLUE.
GO ON POSTIES IM ALL FOR STRIKE ACTION THEN WE CAN SEE HOW MANY CUSTOMERS HAVE JUNK MAIL DELIVERED WHILST YOU ARE OUT AND THAT WILL BE A BIG ZERO…. (GET RID OF THE MANAGEMENT TEAMS IT WILL BE A BETTER PLACE FOR YOU TO WORK AND DO ROYAL MAIL PROUD)
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