You've taken that too far
Striking is the act of withdrawing your labor.
To bring down a website is criminal damage.
So unless the site is so flaky as to require constant maintenance, the police should be called in on this one.
Next week, after a vote from their union, thousands of Royal Mail workers are set to go on strike. This week, the Royal Mail website beat them to the punch: Royal Mail Website Down We question whether the Communications Works Union is behind the shutdown, but one Reg reader thinks otherwise. "Looks like the CWU have got …
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Why does a website need to go on strike? Is there someone sitting at Royal Mail HQ and looking up each parcel reference that's submitted before typing back in its delivery date to be included in the HTML Response?
It's not a very good website that needs to be shutdown when there isn't someone there to run it at the other end. Shouldn't this be filed under sabotage, rather than strike action?
This strike, like the Tube strikes, is starting from a weak position because a lot of the public is either (a) unemployed and consequently either would like having a job or not the sort of person who would care or (b) has a job that is more difficult than delivering letters which they themselves are underpaid for, and therefore doesn't see the posties as having too bad a lot. The sympathy just isn't there.
Its probably caused by a delivery problem with the new hamster needed to run the site, the delivery has taken longer due to our wonderful "modernised" Royal Mail with its ever increasing prices seemingly driving ever deteriorating standards.
Im with the postal workers on this. They are damned if they do.. and damned if they dont. The mail buisness was gutted by Europe jealous at our service. All that the "modernisation" seems to achieve is far later deliveries at a far higher cost - the onlt thing that has fallen is the avaiability of collections locally.
How come the bosses keep getting bonuses for a deliberately worsened service?
"Inevitably they will have to accept the modernization."
You, sir, are a victim of propaganda. I knew there would be somebody who would buy that modernisation crap. Most of the changes being enforced by the management are nothing to do with modernisation and everything to do with cutting costs and services. Maybe you think that dovetails with your definition of the word modernisation. It doesn't fit with mine. Modernisation for me means using the latest technology to provide a *better* service. Of course investing in the latest technology costs money and RM won't do that.
The major problem is that UK.gov expect Royal Mail to operate at a profit so they can sell them off.
Sell them off?? But wait, we're in a Labour Gov.. they NEVER privatise... oh wait..
That said, one thing is for certain, I get peev'd when you have employees that exepct to still have their job, even when the organisation they work for has gone to the wall due to not making the tough decisions of cutting back staff. I've been in a situation where I was handed a letter saying I was being made redundant. yes, I have dependacies, but I certainly didn't start shooting off and saying "How can they do this?!", or the real kicker "How can the Gov let this happen.. I have 14 kids to feed!"
Pah! It's business, and not a right to have a job.
And don't get me started on job seekers allowance either! .. Or benefits for that matter!!
Get back to work and take the news professionally!
AAAARRRGGGHHH!!!!
*explodes in a red mist of anger*
I'm with the OPs initial assessment, I don't see delivering mail as being all that skilled.
Sure we'd all like to be paid more but for delivering less mail year on year? Surely not.
I may pay a bit more if they'd deliver my mail before I left for work but as they don't and I normally have to go collect all my parcels from the depot at weekends.. I'm not really a big supporter of my local postie.
The problem is here is that Postal Workers believe they have a right to a job for life, for ever, irrespective of any other factor. The Royal Mail does not have a compulsory redundancy policy but a plan to lose a large %age of the workforce through attrition over the next few years. As a result of the shrinking market and increased automation of sorting, DHL etc autosort 93% of their mail, and the Royal Mail.. 55%. Ultimately the business must change and if it doens't it will change anyway. A days strike costs £2m+ a day : £1m in lost business per day and £1m in lost contracts as customers move to other provders.
The same other providers that then deliver the "Final Mile" of the delivery to the Royal Mail anyway! The same "Final Mile" delivery that Postcomm charges to the Other Providers at less than cost... and refuses to change that price, so RM are subsidising the competition.
"The same other providers that then deliver the "Final Mile" of the delivery to the Royal Mail anyway! The same "Final Mile" delivery that Postcomm charges to the Other Providers at less than cost... and refuses to change that price, so RM are subsidising the competition."
Of course they have to charge less than cost. The government made damn sure of that when they deregulated the postal system, otherwise nobody would have bid for the franchises. It's the only way they can make a profit. Of course if RM is ever sold off it will be expected to operate at a profit and that last mile can't possibly operate at a profit as long as Postcomm play their political games. The stupid thing is of course that allowing RM to charge a reasonable rate would give them a chance of turning a profit, which would in turn give Mandy the opportunity to sell it.
Perhaps the one place where RM are not facing as much of a drop in business is that final mile. Our village posty tells me he has more mail to deliver now than five years ago (ebay?). That is to say he has more mail to deliver to the addresses that were there five years ago and he has all the new build on top of that. He is, however, already expected to deliver the mail in less time than he did five years ago. Quite often the bags are too big for him to safely ride his bike, so he has to push it which slows him down even more. The mail arrives at the local post office later than it used to do, due apparently to the sorting office doing their job less efficiently than they used to. So the people at the end of the round are getting their mail much later than they did a few years ago.
All of which leads to another thing slowing him down. Him getting it in the ear from people because they seem to think it's his fault the post is arriving later than it used to.
Modernisation my arse! A cynic might suggest that they are pushing rural deliveries to the point where they are no longer practical. Then they will press UK.gov to change their contract so they they can either make people collect from their local post office or pay extra for delivery. It would mean a new income stream and might explain the u-turn on the closure of several village post offices in this neck of the woods. The option of free collection wouldn't work if there wasn't a local post office would it?
P.O. web site #
By John Dougald McCallum Posted Friday 16th October 2009 20:06 GMT
I can assure one and all that the P.O. web site is up and runnig today used it to rearange delivery of a parcel earlier today.Move allong, nothing to see ,have a nice day etc.........
John
Royal Mail and the Post Office are different companies so therefore they will have different sites.