You may have noticed that your mail is arriving later, and there may have been instances where you may not have received a delivery at all. This was not due to industrial action. This has been because Royal Mail has pushed ahead with its ill conceived and poorly planned revisions under the guise of modernization and improving customer service.

The Union and its members are well aware of the need to modernise. The 2007 agreement with the union committed Royal Mail to introduce all modernisation and change through agreement and they have reneged on that promise.

We are striking about Royal mails plans for the future, our future and the future of a public service. We may have improved our profit margins and recently posted record profits of £321m, but at what cost?

Everyone used to get their mail before 09:30 and the workforce had a decent pension to look forward to. Now we have a less reliable service and later deliveries (and they are set to get even later if next years idea of modernization goes ahead). There has been a reduction in weekday postbox collections and no longer collections on Sundays and Bank Holidays. We have seen our Crown Post Office in the town centre closed along with many other Sub-Post Offices and we no longer have a post bus in rural areas. Does that sound like modernisation or efficiency?

You clearly have no idea of what the strike is all about. How will your small business servive with later deliveries? That is unless you plan on paying the £3000 per year Royal Mail want to charge you for the service you already have, but plan on removing. Maybe you would be much happier paying the likes of DHL or TNT £4 or £5 to send a letter, where currently Royal Mail charge 40p?

We are not striking over pay. We are fighting for our long term futures and against cuts in your Postal Service.

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Yet another ill informed rant by someone who apparently has little comprehension of facts. The comment regarding “the company that pays your wages and puts food on the table” smacks of serfdom. Most postal workers are not peasants tugging their forelocks in order to please their master, though doubtless there are those who, like the proverbial ostrich, would rather keep their heads in the sand, whilst others do the fighting for them.
The pension “Black Hole” is not due to the worker – who incidentally pays full contributions – it is due to the employer who doesn’t . That a firm who claims “zero tolerance” to bullying, and yet forms its so – called “Modernisation Policy” on precisely that, should tell you something.
The fact that the present industrial unrest doesn’t make sense to you at all Charlie, makes me wonder why you should choose to write an article about it. Do you often write about things that you don’t understand ?
If you are getting paid less than a postal worker, though it has to be noted that you have been careful not to state just what you do earn – then why not try the job of postman to see how you get on ?
Talk is cheap Charlie, perhaps you should either put up, or shut up.

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As Alastair as said above “another ill informed rant” from someone who wishes to channel all their energy into berating the people who have made Royal Mail the success it is, the Postmen and women who actually struggle on trying to provide a service despite all attempts by Royal Mail to run it into the ground. Well Mr. Cashdan, when you that claim that Royal Mail are a company already on it’s knees, at this present moment in time you area wrong, the disturbing fact is however if the company are allowed to carry on with their ridiculous plans then in twelve months time that statement will be correct.

Also when you talk about the Postmen hurting their pensions, again nothing could be further from the truth, you are obviously not aware that apart from our retired members presumably being selfish in choosing to live longer, it was Royal Mail who chose to have a pensions holiday and paid nothing in the scheme for 15 years.

You also attempt to suggest that in the real world everybody has to take on extra responsibilities in their own employment – as you have – for no extra pay. I suggest you spend 2 minutes talking to your postmen who will tell you that not only has his daily round got bigger but he also has to take part of another delivery that may be 3 miles across the town in the same day, and when he suggests to his/her manager that there is insufficient time, he or she will tell you that they will only get bullied or threatened by some inept manager who lives in complete denial about the physical realities of a postman’s job or the absurdity of Royal Mail’s slash and burn approach to ruining the service.

On a slightly different note I do agree that some people may suffer slightly in the short term when facing such a dispute as ours. That is why we have made every single attempt to resolve our differences with the employer, who it has to be said remain intransigent to this day, even by dismissing our offer to go to independent arbitration.

So please Mr. Cashdan before you place all the blame on the postal workers, please take the time to understand the issues and difficulties that our people are facing every day.

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