Martin Walsh post from Facebook staff group about the future
Interesting read about the future, thoughts? Copy and pasted from royal mail chat Facebook group.
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I am happy to answer your questions , let’s try to have a reasonable and respectful discussion.
it is no point hiding the facts , most of which have been within the last two Of Com statements and Royal Mail’s published accounts. Facts in any change are important , in any discussion.
20 years ago every address averaged 10 items being delivered to it per week. The number now is 4.
Just over 17 years ago Royal Mail got full revenue from all letters , Downstream access changed that which accounts for 70% of letters.
First class letters only accounts for 700 million items per year out of the 7 billion letters Royal Mail deliver.
Mail Centres will have to separate 1st class and Non Priority items in the future. The ten mail centres which are part of the Pilot are being strictly monitored for this.
Any machinable non priority items which are not due a delivery up stream in the sequencing machine.
Discussions on going whether less duties in a mail centre are needed on a Friday to process non priority items and more on Sunday night. Pilot will test.
Each Delivery unit will have a First class IPS frames and a colour coded non priority mail frames. For example blue and yellow. Blues will go out on one day along with any 1st class items, the yellows will go out on the next day.
No walks will be changed, neither increased.
10 Apart from a first class and non priority item frame the IPS sorting will be the same.
Evi or 1st class and parcel routes will cover two entire walks. The modelling is showing that 1st class items have a 20% call rate and parcels are lower Monday and Tuesday. They pick up Wednesday to Saturday and in some units there will need to be an additional 4 day week duty Wednesday to Saturday for parcels.
The delivery of all mail Monday to Friday will mean 50% of your current duties will be delivered each day on a rotating basis.
So each address will get either 3 deliveries one week and two deliveries the following so 5 deliveries every two weeks of all the mail you currently deliver.
So in theory you will have two days of non priority items on each day Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. However on Monday and Tuesday you will have 4 days meaning Monday and Tuesday become heavier days.
Your call rate on the days you deliver all the mail will rise from the average 58% to 78%. So you will go to more houses on your route.
The more Saturdays off come from the fact that 2 singleton van duties will perform 4 walking duties ( CDVs) on a Saturday as they will only be delivering 1st class and parcels.
The modelling which is being tested is showing that on Monday and Tuesday the increase in call rate is showing that you need an additional 40 minutes. On Tuesday to Friday you will need an extra 22 minutes.
However you will not be able to do double prep within your unit and have the increase in call rate so this is where part timers will get the opportunity for a up lift in their contracted hours up to full time.
Of Com have made it clear unless the Pilots hit 90% quality of service target within the Pilot then it highly unlikely that they will approve USO reform.
EP also cannot take profit out of Royal Mail until they improve quality of service.
When there is any planned major change there will always be a switch off of recruitment as they want to not add to either a surplus or voluntary redundancy costs. This will contribute in short term to quality of service problems outside of the Pilot units.
In terms of job losses , the pilots will test the assumptions as already we do not think that the planned assumptions will work in rural or where there are significant amount of firm duties.
There is likely to be an opportunity to go via Voluntary redundancy for up to 2600 individuals. We will have an improved VR package.
We have ensured no one will have to leave a unit if there are surplus within the pilot units. If we agree to a roll out than there will not be a compulsory redundancies.
Pay, equalisation of new entrants pay , terms and conditions, improve VR terms , improved Sick pay , local incentives scheme , improved overtime / SA will all be subject to an individual member ballot at the time when we reach an agreement on them.
whilst Sundays are not part of the USO they are an important area of growth which includes whether Sunday firm collections are in the future made meaning Mail Centres will need a more stable resource on a Sunday.
Finally I know some have said 1st Xmas is too expensive at £1.65 , I would question this. You can get a bus and travel four stops and pay £2.
Yet if a customer posts a 1st class item in London and wants it to be delivered in Manchester it is handled by at least 7 different OPGs before it is delivered.
The collection driver , the outward processing staff member , network driver to PRDC , Cross docked to the inward mail centre , the area distribution driver to the Delivery Officer to then be delivered all for £1.65. If it was actually reliable it would good value , the problem is over a third of 1st class is failing.