UK Gov't to Privatize/Sell Royal Mail

The privatisation off Royal Mail may give the employees the wake up call they need, every year around christmas time they hold this country to ransom by threatening strikes over pay and conditions, The average mail man in this country if he works the shift rota correctly can be done by 12.00am and if he so wishes can take on a second job unless he is a lazy git like my mail man who never delivers before 3.pm

Royal Mail suck balls. My postman hates me because I've complained about him, he always leaves the 'sorry you were out card' even if I'm in and waiting for him! He doesn't even knock. W4nker.

Being privatised wont make it any better. you only have to look at the railway to see the bad effects privatisation can bring.
I know we will need the actual postmen here as the letter boxes are here:-) but i hope it dont mean possible foreign investers will buy in and then take the jobs else where like poland and India. Imagine the delays then when mail goes to get sorted in poland because of cheap labour.

Usually when something gets privatized here, the consumer usually gets the short end of the stick. When you take something that should be run as a service for everyone to equally share and try to run it to make a massive profit instead of a small one, you end up with consumers being charged as much as possible for as little service as they can possible hand out without causing a riot.

I know that here in the US, the postal service is run by a branch of the government and tries to operate in the 'keep ourselves afloat with a little extra' mode and is also having the same issues... Huge union wages, massive pension payouts that are coming due, etc. However, instead of selling it off to the highest bidder, the USPS is trying to keep postage rates down by cutting hours. In a few years they plan to cancel all Saturday deliveries and only deliver mail Monday through Friday. What I don't understand is why people still scream and complain when postage rates go up. The last rate increase went from 37 cents to 44 cents and people about burned down the post office. If the USPS wasn't there, they would have to send letters by UPS or Fedex and that 44 cent letter would jump up to around ten dollars.

Undoubtedly, there are many ills. If the employees are lazy and shiftless, then there is something wrong with their supervisors for letting them get away with it. The best place to start cleaning house is at the top. And I do believe that the U.S. Postal service is already a private entity. Like Mirror Man says, the postal rates have gone up exorbitantly. But, what hasn't? I do think that the postal service is a necessary service and that it should be government subsidised. Just my 2¢.

Undoubtedly, there are many ills. If the employees are lazy and shiftless, then there is something wrong with their supervisors for letting them get away with it. The best place to start cleaning house is at the top. And I do believe that the U.S. Postal service is already a private entity. Like Mirror Man says, the postal rates have gone up exorbitantly. But, what hasn't? I do think that the postal service is a necessary service and that it should be government subsidised. Just my 2¢.

A lot of the time it's NOT the supervisors allowing the bad behavior, it's the union contract that allows for it. Once you're in a union, you can't be fired for insubordination, refusing to work, poor performance, etc. without the company jumping through hoops and collecting a dump truck full of paperwork documenting the bad behavior, and even then it's very difficult. I believe that unions had a pivotal role in creating fair employment for everyone at one point in time. Today, however, the majority of the unions out there (not all of them though) are simply job security for lazy people.

The USPS is still a government agency, but it's being run as it's own entity. It's not under the control of Congress.

I was not trying to say that the postal rates have gone up exorbitantly... I was trying to say that people have an unreasonable expectation of seeing NO price increases EVER. In September of 1975 it cost $0.10 to mail a letter. Today it costs $0.44. That is a $.34 increase in the last 35 years. Even when you factor in the next price increase to $0.46 effective January 2, 2011, you're looking at inflation of just over one cent per year. When you compare that to any other long established service you'll see that there's quite a bit of difference, especially when you consider that most of the postal business (letters, cards, bill payments) has shifted over to the internet.

I can't seem to find any info on telephone service rates from back then, but just look at the way other items have increased in cost. Postage may have gone up 340% since 1975, but gasoline ($0.36 then, $2.69 now) has gone up 647% and cigarettes ($0.35 then, national average of $5.51 now) a whopping 1,474%.

I also happen to agree with your 2¢. The second you take something that should be considered part of the nation's infrastructure and put it in the hands of someone who knows they have a monopoly and can charge whatever they want because there is no competition, you're going to end up with a massive problem.

[QUOTE=Mirror Man;967160]A lot of the time it's NOT the supervisors allowing the bad behavior, it's the union contract that allows for it. Once you're in a union, you can't be fired for insubordination, refusing to work, poor performance, etc. without the company jumping through hoops and collecting a dump truck full of paperwork documenting the bad behavior, and even then it's very difficult. I believe that unions had a pivotal role in creating fair employment for everyone at one point in time. Today, however, the majority of the unions out there (not all of them though) are simply job security for lazy people.

As a union steward for state employees, for over 20 years, I have to take exception to that statement. Union contracts are negotiated, supposedly, on a level playing field. I also happened to be on our negotiating committee, and frequently those negotiations were called "collective begging". To begin with, it is against the law for state and federal employees to strike or to cause any work stoppages or slowdowns. So? What is left? It is two sides sitting down, trying to alleviate obvious problems. And, in my opinion it worked. The only problem was to get supervisors and employees alike to live within reason. There are federal laws against "featherbedding" and things like that. No . . in my opinion the problems lied in the fact that many supervisors were gutless wonders, or they played favorites with certain employees.

For 36 years, I worked for the state highway department, and had to listen to all of the cheap shots, from the ignorant, who liked to call us stupid and lazy. Then, after I retired, I went to work for a private contractor, for four years. And then, I saw the light. The government organization had it all over those private firms, where back stabbing, and favoritism was rampant. When I worked for the state, there was always someone who could answer my questions, or work with me to find a solution to problems. With the private companies, you were on your own. If you had a question, you were told to figure it out for yourself.

I realize that there are different situations no matter where you work. But it isn't fair to label all government employees, and their unions, as being the root of all trouble. Unless you've seen both side, you really don't know.

I have worked for Canada Post during the Christmas time.
It was a great paying easy job.

Here in Canada they want you to speak French and English
for any Government job.

As a union steward for state employees, for over 20 years, I have to take exception to that statement. Union contracts are negotiated, supposedly, on a level playing field. I also happened to be on our negotiating committee, and frequently those negotiations were called "collective begging". To begin with, it is against the law for state and federal employees to strike or to cause any work stoppages or slowdowns. So? What is left? It is two sides sitting down, trying to alleviate obvious problems. And, in my opinion it worked. The only problem was to get supervisors and employees alike to live within reason. There are federal laws against "featherbedding" and things like that. No . . in my opinion the problems lied in the fact that many supervisors were gutless wonders, or they played favorites with certain employees.

For 36 years, I worked for the state highway department, and had to listen to all of the cheap shots, from the ignorant, who liked to call us stupid and lazy. Then, after I retired, I went to work for a private contractor, for four years. And then, I saw the light. The government organization had it all over those private firms, where back stabbing, and favoritism was rampant. When I worked for the state, there was always someone who could answer my questions, or work with me to find a solution to problems. With the private companies, you were on your own. If you had a question, you were told to figure it out for yourself.

I realize that there are different situations no matter where you work. But it isn't fair to label all government employees, and their unions, as being the root of all trouble. Unless you've seen both side, you really don't know.

I meant no disrespect to you or any other unionized worker, other than the lazy ones. In fact, I did make a point to say not all unions are useless. I will admit that my statement was pretty generalized, so for that I do apologize. Nowhere in my statement did I say anything about government or state workers though. I only mentioned the government to verify that the USPS is still a government agency.

However, I've worked two union jobs and what I say stands in my experience. We had people on staff who would show up and do as they pleased, except work, since they were protected by the union. In the private sector, you run into the exact same thing, only those people are protected by someone else in the company or through one law or another. I also have friends who have belonged to unions other than the ones I have and they've said the same thing.

It's not every worker and it's not every manager that is lazy or problematic. The thing is that we only see and hear about the problem workers and managers. No one ever wants to discuss people like yourself, who show up to work every day and take pride in what you do.

thanks for speaking up for the government and union workers xray...
and thanks for the good thread and followups Mirror( and your apology, cause i am the only one allowed to make enemies on here, so dont go copying me)...keep it up and u will be nominanted for a moderator spot one day(watch yer back Peanut2!)..

as for the question in the thread.....doing postal business through the internet will save tons of money, which of course creates problems for the postal services which creates privatation, which by the way , helps me to delevope opportunites for further business adventures, so let me research and possibly become a investor of the postal service.....then.......you know the rest of the story.....

I think we should be partners in said business venture. We can hire strippers and corner workers to deliver the mail and rename it the Prost-al Service.

**Adds Eddiebear to list of enemies

it is simply AMAZING the continued great advice that YOU,MirrorMan give...you remind me of someone else , but i no longer see them around...you arent ' mirroring ' anyone are you.....love ya buddy, keep on trucking and doing the job that you do