“I am a postie working for Royal Mail , and want to comment on some of your issues , 1) if a letter has been deliverd to the wrong house the correct thing to do is knock and try to get it back and deliver to the right address , if you can get the letter back .2) Starting times in delivery offices these have gone from 5am to 6am and have been told by union rep that management want our starting times to be 10am or 11 am at the gate not going out on delivery until about 2pm or 3pm finishing at 5 or 6pm , and bosses saying if you go over your time we will pay overtime.So instead of mail with your breakfast as was traditional you are going to get it at tea time , i can`t see that this is improving and modernising the service can you?
Why can`t Royal Mail let the public vote on what time would be best when they get their mail as this would make Royal Mails choice of starting early or later much less of a problem.

Also it doesn`t take a rocket scientist to know that all Post Offices packet collections should be open for at least until 6.30 pm so our customers can come home from work and pick up their packets as i`m sure other firms do ?”

“Dave - Haven't you got post to deliver???”

“'Also Amused', Is your first initial 'R', and your last name 'Sole'?

Are you the record holder for emptying a bar just by opening your mouth and speaking? Quite a few contenders for your crown here though.

You bunch of doormats.”

“well done anne steve and gas, the only lights in a very dark room. and this is NOT as someone said earlier all about royal mail, it is about democracy and fighting for the rights of the working man generally. although i have never had to support industrial action before in any job i would not hesitate to do it. and sorry for got to mention in my earlier post that in the incident where dave wilshire saved my job i was actually suspended for refusing to do over time. had it not been for the fact that the unions in royal mail are so strong i would have been in the brown stuff for doing something that is perfectly within my rights by law.

now to confused, the problem with the mail market is this. we have to deliver competitors mail at vastly reduced prices and they don't have a universal service obligation, whereas royal mail does. the out come of this is that they can cherry pick the best addresses to deliver to whereas we can't. they also have complete control over their prices whereas royal mail don't. lets not forget though it was crozier and leighton whon signed up to those rules knowing that they were unfair, which shows just how high the quality of management is at the top end of royal mail.”

“Anne - You were telling Sam to use a courier yesterday instead of RM and now you are moaning that RM will be put out of business???”

“Yes, I am able to state facts as I have actually worked for the Royal Mail. Whilst everyone is entitled to an opinion it helps to be in possesion of some facts/knowledge for your opinions to have any credability.

I have never worked for the tax office or the NHS, so I have no inside knowledge. Therefore I am not the best person to comment on these employers. A nurse friend tells me of the gross areas of cross infection at her hospital....stories that do not get covered "openly"....she is in the know!
So,our postal staff are best placed to comment on what is actually happening within Royal Mail. And all under the watch of our "Labour" (or left wing Tory) Government. I came up through the ranks with some CWU officials, and they are good people with the interest of their members at heart. Quite a rarity in this age of "sod you, I'm alright Jack"”

“Pete, Steve & Gas, at last people on here who are able to state facts and not drivel.
To Also Amused - as you have no idea who I am or who my husband is I don't think you have any right to question my/our knowledge on the RM, their management and their postmen/women. You obviously don't work there otherwise you would know what I'm saying is 100% true.
I think you should all support our posties because if the service wasn't there you would surely miss it. And by the way, re couriers doing the postmans job, was told my a work colleague that in fact it costs us £10 to have a letter delivered from Clifton to the Centre if a courier was used. Will anyone be prepaired to pay that sort of money for a delivery if the post office went out of business?”

“i have read many of the comments on this section and it is clear that many of you are ignorant of the facts surrounding this dispute. the first fact is that royal mail have just announced the biggest profits in their history, 321 million and when you consider that i think that it is only fair that the posties of which i admit i am one get a share of the profits. the second fact is that at the end of a very bitter national dispute two years ago part of phase 4 of the 'pay and modernisation agreement' was that royal mail and the cwu leadership would sit down and thrash out a new agreement. not only have they failed to this but they then have the cheek to criticise employees for not being flexible enough with their hours which was also part of the agreement, saying that they can't justify it in the current economic climate, in spite of their record profits. in other words its just rank hypocrisy by the royal mail management. remember it is the man on the street that has made that money for them. this is not an isolated incident. the current pack of bullies that run royal mail have a history of shifting goal posts to suit themselves.

as for the union, consider this for a fact. dave wilshire, one of the union guys quoted in the article saved my job last year after i had done some thing that i was totally within my rights to do-refusing to do overtime as i couldn't do it due to other commitments. this is an example of why trade unions are such a vital part of any country. because be in no doubt, if they didn't exist as some one else pointed out we would have no rights within the work place.

whilst i do understand that the economy is in a recession at the minute and people have lost jobs, that does not mean that the postmen or the binmen or any body as another recent example of people in this area who've been out on strike should allow themselve to be trampled on by their employers. in this country 90% of the wealth is owned by 10% oof the population and we also work more hours for less pay than any where else in europe. these problems, whilst they do still exist are nothing like as bad on the continent, for a large part because people support trade unions and industrial action in much greater numbers over there. their lifestyle is much better.”

“I started with Royal Mail in the mid 80s and spent 18 years with them.New recruits used to have initial training where everyone spent a minimum of 3 weeks delivering letters, on 3 different walks. You had to have 3 good reports from these walks along with passing your sorting ability tests. I understand none of this happens nowadays....this would be a management decision.

Missing mail. There always has been an investigation branch that deals with missing items....they are a bit like the SAS of the Post office and work undercover to catch thieves. If mail frequently goes missing or is mis-delivered then report it!
Since leaving R.Mail I have not enjoyed the security that was felt by belonging to an "active" trade union. There is no union in my current employment and I feel very vulnerable. I have a contract of sorts that is really no better than being self employed. My sessional contract gives no holiday pay...something employers must be dreaming wildly about bringing back. Royal mail is I believe the 3rd largest employer in the U.K. Now, if they could break the union....draw you own conclusions.”

“Anne
Unfortunately most people on here and in general have a im alright jack attitude.If people in any walk of life are unhappy with pay and conditions they should be able to protest in any given way they see fit.My best mate is a long serving postman so i know most of the issues posties have with the RM,they are being treated appallingly
For all those who just keep bleating posties are lucky to have a job arent really helping as its a green light for all bosses and management in any industry to treat people in any way they feel, being told if you dont like it go elsewhere attitude
For the records,i live in BS14 and post many items every week without any problems.All my mail as far as i know is delivered through my letterbox everyday in all weathers,hence a £10 tip for my postman every year
Anne you have my support”