Postal Letter

How should the postal service be reformed?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHfddvbKb4w The reforms so far seem to have made the service worse, not better. http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/britain/Red-letter-day-as-postal-staff-vote-for-strikes How do you think things should be improved? http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/britain/More-postal-strikes-to-begin

Public Comments

1. It should be privatized.
2. From what I've seen a lot of this has been caused by poor communication between the higher ups and the workers. So that needs to be bridged so that the workers don't feel left in the dark. For this I would say put a couple senior postmen in the boardroom to mitigate. The next step would be to bring back the postal train. Finally, I'd reduce the rounds to their original size. It's fair they should work their full 8 hours (and they understand that) but, there's plenty of jobs that can be done at the sorting office or post office. It's also a chance to win back public opinion as this will create more jobs (when certain postmen retire or leave their rounds aren't necessarily being given a new postman). Okay, these reforms may cost more but, the Royal mail offers a very good service and considering nearly every thing's linked to inflation, adding a penny to the stamp cost every other year isn't a biggy. I do not like the current modernisation process. It's pretty clear that it's being set up to be sold off and as someone who lives in the sticks I'm worried about the future. Under the current "modernisation" route how long will it be until I will have to collect my post at the office? I believe some people in really remote areas are having to do this already. I kinda feel for the postmen striking at the moment. This is pretty much their last chance before it's "sold off" to Europe. Their last stand, so all I say is good luck to them.
3. Unfortunately, I'm starting to wonder if Royal Mail is beyond help. It has been hit by a perfect storm. On one side, the amount of post sent has collapsed. That probably means fewer people are needed. The unions probably need to accept this. On the other side, politicians have flogged off the profitable parts of the postal system to private companies and left Royal Mail with the unprofitable rump. I think we need to remember that a universal postal system is a PUBLIC SERVICE. Any politician who forgets that should have it tattooed on their forehead. Royal Mail used to work by having profitable parts (bulk mailings) subsidising highly unprofitable parts (delivering to the Scottish Highlands where each houses is miles apart). Unfortunately, the profitable parts have been given away to private firms who cherry pick them and then undercut Royal Mail (knowing they don't have to cross subsidise unprofitable parts). For goodness sake, even the government doesn't use Royal Mail any more (see Government Mail). A third side is the absolutely incompetent management. A lot of the cost-cutting is counter productive towards business. I can only collect a parcel between 8:30am and 12:30, these days. Added to that if I need to go to a post office I have to queue for ages because there aren't enough staff on. Put them together and its enough to make me try to avoid using Royal Mail if I can.
4. Let us be honest;The 'death nell' of the postal service was sounded when the first e mail was transmitted down the wires. People have suddenly realised that they have a reliable fast service with no interruptions with the e-mail and are not hostage to union demands and pressures. It is now time for the postal workers to reinvent themselves or suffer a gradual decline! Hitting the poor bloke every Christmas does not solve the problem!
5. I can only speak as a house holder awaiting a postal delivery.I for one value the postman for his task of carrying a sack full of post on his back in all kinds of weather.For doing that, he has my full support. Now with problems once again rearing its ugly head, I have firstly look at the top management of the Postal Service. Here is a man, a chief executive, who prior to this appointment was with the FA.So my first question would be, what kind of experience has this man have with the postal service? The second question is to the unions,who still seem to run their office on the line of a dictator ship. It comes across that their main aim is confrontation with management and little respect to the customer. All this bickering will achieve is the loss of contracts and the disintegration of the Post office itself. Surely there must be somebody in the postal service who can hold this business together,with consideration to the work force and without out side interference.