I don’t want to come over all 1970s but what is this postal strike about? Apparently the unions are now considering a nationwide strike ballot – yet I have had one postal delivery in the last two weeks, and have not received lots of items which I know are due.
They appear to be more or less on strike already – the Telegraph says today that, “Since June 19, postal workers have been on strike somewhere in the country once every other day – 34 strike days in total.” I really don’t think that’s good enough. By ballotting individual offices, the unions have created what is effectively a national strike already.
Why do we put up with this? I’m not normally a vehemently pro or anti privatisation person – whatever works, frankly, and I do think that the post service (particularly for remote areas and in the services they provide in physical post offices) is a hugely valuable and valued part of our national fabric. But if I were running a business that relied on orders and payments coming through the post – I would already have started making arrangements to use another provider.
I don’t see why those who deliver the post shouldn’t go back to their depots to finish the hours they’re contracted to work. I don’t see why they shouldn’t update the routes they take to maximise their efficiency. I don’t see why they are refusing to use new technology to improve the service offered – all of which was agreed in 2007 after the last big strike.
Yes, there are problems with the way the government has handled (and abandoned) the part-privatisation, and there are problems with pensions and commercial competitors. But if post office workers and the Royal Mail want to continue to be considered as a national institution, they need to start behaving as if they are one fit for today and tomorrow, not as if they are stuck in the 1970s.
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