Going Postal

The Future of Work

roymayall — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 19:41:12 +0000

Royal Mail casual staff are now employed by Angard Staffing Solutions Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Royal Mail.

Angard Staffing Solutions Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Royal Mail. It doesn’t just handle temporary staff over Christmas. There appears to be no way to get a job as a postal worker these days except by going through Angard. Is this the future of work in Britain?

From the LRB blog.

Read more here.

Ofcom offers little hope to Royal Mail

roymayall — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 08:55:59 +0000

Under Ofcom's proposals, 'Royal Mail has a monopoly of the work, while other companies get a share of the profits'. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

Royal Mail has a new regulator, but its proposals fail to protect the service from privatisation and unfair competition

From the Guardian, Comment is free

Friday 28 October 2011 08.00 BST

Royal Mail’s ‘neighbourly’ delivery service has a hidden cause

roymayall — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 08:01:11 +0000

Staff unload vans at Royal Mail's sorting office in Filton, Bristol one of the biggest in the UK. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

The Royal Mail’s decision to leave undelivered mail with neighbours fits in with its policy of closing delivery offices

From the Guardian, Comment is free

Monday 3 October 2011 10.09 BST

Read more here.

Dogs v. Posties

roymayall — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 10:34:00 +0000

Snarling dog, from the CWU website

There used to be a vicious old Boxer dog on my round. He lived at the end of a long drive with a gate. There was a post box outside where I used to leave the mail. Occasionally the owners forgot to close the gate and left the dog out. It would spot me as I was parking my bike, and begin padding in my direction, head down, growling, until it got close enough to launch itself at me.

From the LRB blog. Read more here.

Modernisation has put the snail in Royal Mail

roymayall — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 21:39:15 +0000

Bikes for postal workers are being phased out by Royal Mail, slowing down delivery. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

The amount of lost or delayed mail is no surprise – ill-conceived new working methods have slowed postal workers down

Read more here.

Junk mail – the facts

roymayall — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 06:28:01 +0000

'We deliver our own rivals’ mail for them, and then we take a loss on it. By law.' Photograph: Getty Images

A Panorama programme on postal junk was compelling, but didn’t mention that the market is skewed against Royal Mail

Roy Mayall on You & Yours

roymayall — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 06:29:34 +0000

A column written by Roy Mayall for the You & Yours programme on Radio 4. The item is 35 minutes and 20 seconds into the programme.

Listen to it here.

Royal Mail is not delivering

roymayall — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 07:03:33 +0000

'Millions more have been spent on a fleet of new vans to replace the bikes the Royal Mail intends to scrap.' Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

As profits dive, it’s clear this management isn’t modernising, it’s running the company into the ground – but why?

- Roy Mayall
- guardian.co.uk, Monday 20 June 2011 18.30 BST

Read more here.

Tales from the Front Line: The Postman

roymayall — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 17:07:46 +0000

New Statesman, 27th January 2011

“The Royal Mail is being slashed back, and it breaks this old postie’s heart”

From the New Statesman.

Read more here.

Tales from the front line: public-sector workers speak out

roymayall — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 21:38:17 +0000

In this week’s New Statesman, six key workers speak out about their fears for 2011.

This is the year that the full force of the coalition’s austerity budget will be felt. In a major feature in this week’s issue of the New Statesman, a teacher, GP, lawyer, social worker, postman and policeman reveal their concerns about the seismic change that 2011 will bring.

You can read their testimonials in the magazine, which hits news-stands tomorrow. In the meantime, here is a taster of what they have to say.