whats the reason for the postal strike?

Question

suposedly money... their job is relatively unskilled yet they get paid quite a bit over the minimum wage.
I am sure they all work hard but I mean i once had to shovel 1 ton of mince meat per half hour in 12 hour shifts and i got the minimum wage so that is no excuse.

now i read today that they are complaining that they may be made to actually work all the hours that they are paid for!

i believe they have no proper reason to go on strike - what says you?

This is in the UK to all you Americans wondering why you still got your mail today.

Answer 1

-Xmas is approaching and the letter sacks are bursting,..,

Answer 2

I didnt know there was a strike.

My husband works as a carrier for the USPS. He's not part of the union, so thats probably why. Yes, the pay is good, but its in line with the work thats done, but its not as much as you think.

Working for the post office is mindless grunt work, you cant meet all the expectations, and you're treated like **** by the PO and the people.

Beyond that, the toll it takes on your body is enormous. Carrying a 40+ pound bag 10-15 miles a day, all within a 6 hour time limit (the other 2 hours are drive time and sorting) really gets to you after a while. Beyond that, if you're not FT, which my husband isnt, you work 6 days a week. He hasnt had a weekend off since we met 5 years ago.

He also has to work any town within a 50 mile radius without notice. Which doesnt sound bad, until you're out there in shitty weather, now idea where anything is, following the mail needing to get out all of half a towns letters before the truck leaves for the night. If you miss it, you have to drive the mail YOURSELF to the sorting station, where ever the closest may be, fur us its albany 1.5 hours from here.

You get a lunch break, butyou cant take it without being behind on your work, and you cant eat while working or driving or else you can get penalized.

SO basically my husband has been humping the pavement like a grunt soldier for 7 years, without a weekend off, and no food from morning until he gets home. He's been attacked by dogs twice, attacked by people twice, and threatened 1 time, all of which are federal offenses which have to be reported and taken to court.

I know from experience that a pay increase would be well deserved. Theyre on a pay scale, and it does not meet the pay scales of other companies. It caps off long before others do, which is a pain in the asss because you cant get full time hours until the baby boomers retire, which can take YEARS. My husband actually works a 40 hour week, but DOESNT get paid for a full time position. And we have a family to feed, house, clothe and care for.

Iam excited to hear about it.

Answer 3

Must be from somewhere other than the U.S.A. Postal workers here are not allowed to strike. Under President Reagan, Federal employees (even unionized) are subject to termination of employment if they strike.

As a result, many Federal employers (USPS for example), feel that they can do whatever they want to the employees with impunity. I personally have endured two years of ABUSE at the hands of my employer with no end in sight!

Our pay rate may seem better than the average public sector pay rate, but we often do work long, hard hours under very stressful conditions.

Answer 4

Its totally stupid these postal worker knew what the job was and what the wages where before they started. They should all get the sack for refusing to work.

The royal mail have offered a pay increase of 2.5% but the union workers wont be satisfied until they get 2.7%

Sack the lot of them

Answer 5

bear in strategies the united kingdom coal industry? there remains coal under the floor and the strike ensured its untimely dying. you have pushed your luck some distance too normally and getting greater investment into the postal service will now be impossible.

Answer 6

They're on strike because they're stupid money grabbers who can't see further than the end of their noses. I say let them have lots more strikes then they'll finish off the Royal Mail and they'll have all the time they want to sit around asking for "guarantees"

Answer 7

They would have had my sympathy if they had chosen a time where it would not affect the public so much. i.e. the run up to Christmas. The last posting date for surface mail to Australia has been.
From what the lady in the post office said they are striking over changes to their working conditions.

Answer 8

My mates a postie and he's got an easy life.
Starts at 5 am finishes at 10am and gets paid till 2pm?
If he does overtime he gets 7 hrs pay at time and a half even if he only does 1 hour.

Answer 9

ive got a friend who is a postman, i think they have probably the easiest job in the world =loook at the letter -check what address it is-put it in a letter box!!!!
theyre just lazy and out to get everything they can.

Answer 10

the reason is they are a bunch of greedy lazy gets.like they don't earn enough.i wish i earned what they do.