Does the strike signal Royal Mail’s last post?
23/10/2009
Will there be any winners in the union dispute? Do they have legitimate grievances?
A friend of mine was a postman for a few years. He could be found slumped in the corner of the pub at the end of the afternoon, sweat-drenched and shell-shocked after another frantic dash to empty his mail bags and keep the managers off his back. He quit a couple of years ago and entered banking, just in time for the big crisis. Still, he looks a lot better these days. Make of that what you will.
It is not, yet, a completely thankless task, but delivering the mail is regarded with a diminishing reserve of affection. Everyone has heard heart-warming stories about nice posties saving cats from speeding motorists or alerting the emergency services to stroke victims, but most of us don’t know who pops the mail through our door these days. We’re more likely to moan about those infuriating “sorry you were out” cards on the door mat than catch the postman for a kind word.
So for how much longer can the national mail service depend on the nostalgic goodwill of the public? Is a once great British institution seriously under threat?
The enormous disruption of this week’s national mail strike comes after months of local walk-outs across the country. The Communications Workers Union (CWU) insists Royal Mail management has pushed its employees to breaking point with job cuts, heavier workloads and confusion over the industry’s long-term future. But with much of the country under the pall of a diminished economy, there seems little sympathy for the indulgence of ransoming for a better deal.
The condemnation has been fierce. Business secretary Peter Mandelson refers to the “suicidal” nature of the strike plan, and his opposite number Ken Clarke has called it “the most foolish and irresponsible [strike] for many years”. Mail bags are already piling up in warehouses – there is a backlog of at least 20 million letters and parcels according to the CWU – and the impact of a fresh 48-hour strike and days of further delays is sure to be more than mere inconvenience.
The Centre for Economics and Business Research estimates the national action could cost the UK around £1.5bn. Amazon, John Lewis, Argos and other leading retailers relying on online custom have deserted the service, turning to couriers as “a contingency to provide an uninterrupted service” in the run up to Christmas. Many are speculating the big guns might not return to Royal Mail.
Stephen Alambritis, spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses, said industrial action is already hurting those trying to recover from the recession. “The strikes are affecting everyone – and it is more hurtful because of their sporadic nature. It is hitting small businesses from John O’Groats to Land’s End.”
Steven Dow, owner of Football Nation store in Edinburgh, says he uses Royal Mail to send out for 95 per cent of his mail-order football strips. He describes it as a “scary time” for any small business relying on a parcel service. “It’s bad news in that we need to find alternatives. We can’t whack our prices up or confuse our customers, so we have to take the hit [with private couriers],” he explains.
“We may find that despite a price increase, it might be balanced out by the convenience and superior service. Depending on the length of the strikes, we may decide not to go back to Royal Mail.”
Charities are also set to suffer. Louise Richards, director of policy at the Institute of Fundraising, believes they could lose up to £2m from this year’s Christmas campaigns, which still depend on direct mail-outs. “It could have a very serious impact. We’ve heard from charities that generally collect their donations by post, who have had to throw out plans and their campaigns are having to be delayed. For smaller charities, disrupted cash flow can affect their ability to operate,” she says.
“It’s not going to be great for the Royal Mail because once people have turned to another method, they may never go back. A lot of charities rely on direct mail – people like the information that way, and it’s been a high return – but they may look much more now at other methods, like online donations.”
For a service losing 10 per cent of mail volume each year, this does not bode well. All those people waiting for cheques or documents may decide to switch to conducting all business digitally, once and for all.
Robert Keitch, head of the Direct Marketing Association, representing a £128bn-a-year industry that still employs three per cent of the UK workforce, says the effects would “become colossal very quickly”.
Days before a crippling 48-hour strike, he does not sound happy. “What are the ramifications? Severe, very severe,” he sighs. “We could well see a lot of small businesses go under. So if businesses find a less risky, more cogent and cost-effective alternative, then why should those businesses ever come back to the Royal Mail?”
But just how helpful or realistic is talk of a potential “death blow” (Mandelson again) to the Royal Mail as we know it? The current dispute picks up where a national strike in 2007 left off. Once a provisional agreement was reached two years ago, business carried on as usual. Royal Mail made a healthy profit last year of £58m (a £6.8bn pension deficit notwithstanding).
It is worth bearing in mind the Royal Mail delivers 99 per cent of all letters in the UK, and courier firms are unlikely to seriously compete any time soon. Some of them do not deliver to more remote parts of the country: unlike Royal Mail they are not obliged to do so, and most firms hike charges substantially for delivery in rural regions. In the business bulk market, private rivals only pick up mail from companies like BT, sort it and then give it to the Royal Mail to deliver to letterboxes – the so-called “final mile”.
Neither of the big guns DHL or TNT were prepared to comment on whether rolling strikes would generate more business in the near future. However, a spokesman for DHL said the strikes were “not good news for us because we depend on Royal Mail like everyone else”.
With so much dependent on a successful operation, it would seem fair to examine the pressures on the ground during the drive to modernise. Union man John Brown, Scottishregional secretary for the CWU, points out that 55,000 jobs have been lost since 2002. “There’s a certain amount of demoralisation. Or to put it another way, they’re pissed off,” he says.
“Everyone understands change happens but if you include them, they can work toward it. The management have not taken the workforce with them. All they’ve seen is cutbacks, increase in loads, withdrawn collections and constant harassment… (meanwhile) the senior management is rewarded with nice wee bonuses for bringing about these changes. They’re telling managers, ‘I physically can’t do all this today’.
“In the worst cases they’re being told, ‘If you don’t deliver, you’re getting disciplined’.”
Workers have also noted an increase in parcels despite the drop in letters, restricting the amount they can carry in any one bag. Some say maximum weight limits are breached just to get the job done without adding to the next day’s delivery.
Brown suspects the figures have been “pokled” (fiddled) by changes to the set average amount of mail in each box in the sorting office. In other words, there’s more letters and parcels in there than the Royal Mail estimates. “The 10 per cent drop in volume is not a realistic or correct figure. There’s far more people ordering stuff online so there’s far more packages, which are more difficult to sort and get out as quickly,” he explains.
What about the loss of public patience – all those Daily Mail headlines about the country being “paralysed” and comparisons with Arthur Scargill? “There’s a threshold in [lack of] support there that we haven’t quite crossed yet, but sadly there’s every possibility that we may cross it,” Brown concedes.
A leaked document suggests management view the strike as an opportunity to gain support for modernisation. “I know they [the public] have lost a certain amount of sympathy with the action already,” says Brown.
“But to our members, it feels like we’re the only ones standing up to save a good daily service to the public, because the company has walked away.”
The union chief reflects sadly on the social changes that have taken place since he worked as a postman and post office counter clerk in the 1970s. “It’s an absolute truth that the postman doesn’t have the time to chat to the public any longer. There was a feeling within the company, an ethos, that because we were a public service, we had to spend time with the customer,” says Brown.
“We were happy to speak to Granny Smith about what she needed if that was the only chance she got to talk all week. The postman was the person to check if Granny Smith was OK if there wasn’t any lights on. These days probably the postman would be disciplined for spending so much time on one customer.”
Whether or not Granny Smith tips her postie with a 10 pound note or a bottle of whisky this Christmas may depend on how long the strikes last, but it is hard to imagine her turning away from the Royal Mail for good.
It is not, yet, a completely thankless task, but delivering the mail is regarded with a diminishing reserve of affection. Everyone has heard heart-warming stories about nice posties saving cats from speeding motorists or alerting the emergency services to stroke victims, but most of us don’t know who pops the mail through our door these days. We’re more likely to moan about those infuriating “sorry you were out” cards on the door mat than catch the postman for a kind word.
So for how much longer can the national mail service depend on the nostalgic goodwill of the public? Is a once great British institution seriously under threat?
The enormous disruption of this week’s national mail strike comes after months of local walk-outs across the country. The Communications Workers Union (CWU) insists Royal Mail management has pushed its employees to breaking point with job cuts, heavier workloads and confusion over the industry’s long-term future. But with much of the country under the pall of a diminished economy, there seems little sympathy for the indulgence of ransoming for a better deal.
The condemnation has been fierce. Business secretary Peter Mandelson refers to the “suicidal” nature of the strike plan, and his opposite number Ken Clarke has called it “the most foolish and irresponsible [strike] for many years”. Mail bags are already piling up in warehouses – there is a backlog of at least 20 million letters and parcels according to the CWU – and the impact of a fresh 48-hour strike and days of further delays is sure to be more than mere inconvenience.
The Centre for Economics and Business Research estimates the national action could cost the UK around £1.5bn. Amazon, John Lewis, Argos and other leading retailers relying on online custom have deserted the service, turning to couriers as “a contingency to provide an uninterrupted service” in the run up to Christmas. Many are speculating the big guns might not return to Royal Mail.
Stephen Alambritis, spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses, said industrial action is already hurting those trying to recover from the recession. “The strikes are affecting everyone – and it is more hurtful because of their sporadic nature. It is hitting small businesses from John O’Groats to Land’s End.”
Steven Dow, owner of Football Nation store in Edinburgh, says he uses Royal Mail to send out for 95 per cent of his mail-order football strips. He describes it as a “scary time” for any small business relying on a parcel service. “It’s bad news in that we need to find alternatives. We can’t whack our prices up or confuse our customers, so we have to take the hit [with private couriers],” he explains.
“We may find that despite a price increase, it might be balanced out by the convenience and superior service. Depending on the length of the strikes, we may decide not to go back to Royal Mail.”
Charities are also set to suffer. Louise Richards, director of policy at the Institute of Fundraising, believes they could lose up to £2m from this year’s Christmas campaigns, which still depend on direct mail-outs. “It could have a very serious impact. We’ve heard from charities that generally collect their donations by post, who have had to throw out plans and their campaigns are having to be delayed. For smaller charities, disrupted cash flow can affect their ability to operate,” she says.
“It’s not going to be great for the Royal Mail because once people have turned to another method, they may never go back. A lot of charities rely on direct mail – people like the information that way, and it’s been a high return – but they may look much more now at other methods, like online donations.”
For a service losing 10 per cent of mail volume each year, this does not bode well. All those people waiting for cheques or documents may decide to switch to conducting all business digitally, once and for all.
Robert Keitch, head of the Direct Marketing Association, representing a £128bn-a-year industry that still employs three per cent of the UK workforce, says the effects would “become colossal very quickly”.
Days before a crippling 48-hour strike, he does not sound happy. “What are the ramifications? Severe, very severe,” he sighs. “We could well see a lot of small businesses go under. So if businesses find a less risky, more cogent and cost-effective alternative, then why should those businesses ever come back to the Royal Mail?”
But just how helpful or realistic is talk of a potential “death blow” (Mandelson again) to the Royal Mail as we know it? The current dispute picks up where a national strike in 2007 left off. Once a provisional agreement was reached two years ago, business carried on as usual. Royal Mail made a healthy profit last year of £58m (a £6.8bn pension deficit notwithstanding).
It is worth bearing in mind the Royal Mail delivers 99 per cent of all letters in the UK, and courier firms are unlikely to seriously compete any time soon. Some of them do not deliver to more remote parts of the country: unlike Royal Mail they are not obliged to do so, and most firms hike charges substantially for delivery in rural regions. In the business bulk market, private rivals only pick up mail from companies like BT, sort it and then give it to the Royal Mail to deliver to letterboxes – the so-called “final mile”.
Neither of the big guns DHL or TNT were prepared to comment on whether rolling strikes would generate more business in the near future. However, a spokesman for DHL said the strikes were “not good news for us because we depend on Royal Mail like everyone else”.
With so much dependent on a successful operation, it would seem fair to examine the pressures on the ground during the drive to modernise. Union man John Brown, Scottishregional secretary for the CWU, points out that 55,000 jobs have been lost since 2002. “There’s a certain amount of demoralisation. Or to put it another way, they’re pissed off,” he says.
“Everyone understands change happens but if you include them, they can work toward it. The management have not taken the workforce with them. All they’ve seen is cutbacks, increase in loads, withdrawn collections and constant harassment… (meanwhile) the senior management is rewarded with nice wee bonuses for bringing about these changes. They’re telling managers, ‘I physically can’t do all this today’.
“In the worst cases they’re being told, ‘If you don’t deliver, you’re getting disciplined’.”
Workers have also noted an increase in parcels despite the drop in letters, restricting the amount they can carry in any one bag. Some say maximum weight limits are breached just to get the job done without adding to the next day’s delivery.
Brown suspects the figures have been “pokled” (fiddled) by changes to the set average amount of mail in each box in the sorting office. In other words, there’s more letters and parcels in there than the Royal Mail estimates. “The 10 per cent drop in volume is not a realistic or correct figure. There’s far more people ordering stuff online so there’s far more packages, which are more difficult to sort and get out as quickly,” he explains.
What about the loss of public patience – all those Daily Mail headlines about the country being “paralysed” and comparisons with Arthur Scargill? “There’s a threshold in [lack of] support there that we haven’t quite crossed yet, but sadly there’s every possibility that we may cross it,” Brown concedes.
A leaked document suggests management view the strike as an opportunity to gain support for modernisation. “I know they [the public] have lost a certain amount of sympathy with the action already,” says Brown.
“But to our members, it feels like we’re the only ones standing up to save a good daily service to the public, because the company has walked away.”
The union chief reflects sadly on the social changes that have taken place since he worked as a postman and post office counter clerk in the 1970s. “It’s an absolute truth that the postman doesn’t have the time to chat to the public any longer. There was a feeling within the company, an ethos, that because we were a public service, we had to spend time with the customer,” says Brown.
“We were happy to speak to Granny Smith about what she needed if that was the only chance she got to talk all week. The postman was the person to check if Granny Smith was OK if there wasn’t any lights on. These days probably the postman would be disciplined for spending so much time on one customer.”
Whether or not Granny Smith tips her postie with a 10 pound note or a bottle of whisky this Christmas may depend on how long the strikes last, but it is hard to imagine her turning away from the Royal Mail for good.
Cost of the strike to firms
Some businesses are transferring their custom to courier services ahead of the industrial action. And many may never go back to the Royal Mail…
Many businesses are preparing to turn their back on the Royal Mail for the first time. Steven Dow, who owns and runs Football Nation, a football strip shop in Edinburgh that relies on online custom, uses the conventional post for 95 per cent of his mail-outs.
“The big and bulky stuff goes via courier, but anything smaller normally goes via Royal Mail because they’re so well equipped to deal with it – they get the job done at a fantastic price,” says Dow.
He won’t pass on the extra cost of courier firms to customers during the disruption, and may even decide to change his delivery partner for good.
“A strike is bad news. We can’t whack our prices up or confuse our customers, so we have to take the hit. We may find that, despite a price increase, it might be balanced out by the convenience and superior service.
“Depending on the length of the strikes, we may decide not to go back to Royal Mail [for parcels]. I could easily foresee a scenario where they lose businesses like us. Presumably we’re not the only ones thinking about this.”
However, not everyone is so ready to switch over. One Moray-based businessman launched an online petition earlier this year to lobby ministers on unfair courier charges in the north of Scotland.
Terence Watson, 50, who runs a photographic printing service near Inverness, wants the government to investigate the “unscrupulous” fees levied for “remote” delivery.
“I feel the Highlands are being penalised with over-charging,” he fumes. “If the Royal Mail becomes a weaker player because of strike action, we could end up even more at the mercy of courier companies. The more we go down the courier road, the worse it’s going to be.”
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