Member Info for OliGarch

Teslo, many thanks for letting the forum know your profession. It makes it a lot easier to see the angle that a poster is coming from and gives balance to the debate.

Teslo, regarding the quote in your 10:19 post "Lots of those people will be earning less than minimum wage under the guise that they're self-employed running their own business".
It's not really "self employment" though as their work is supplied to them and they don't get to deliver when they want as their deliveries are allocated time slots and the customer is given the information in advance.
As I posted earlier, the government need to tighten these loopholes.

Teslo, the government really need to tighten or close these legal loopholes. It seems that "security of the mail" is no longer an issue as any mail carrier in the UK (except RM) can use whoever they wish to employ. Our local Hermes delivery comes courtesy of the local painter and decorator in his liveried van.

Teslo, which company do you think that they will acquire first? UPS, Parcelforce, DHL, Hermes, Yodel, DPD or do you think that it may be someone like Occado or Deliveroo?

200iq, it's not age discrimination. You can't take your pension until you reach the age of 55. So to be in the "golden zone" you need to be between 55 and 59 with over 26 years service.

HH1AN2, unfortunately there will always be investors that just see profit. Their way of thinking is purely $$$ and they are unable to get their heads around the "human" aspect the of the business. A good company should be nurturing it's workforce and encouraging long service that way you end up with employees who care about their employment.
Offering minimum terms only encourages a low skilled workforce who really don't care what they are doing as they can walk into another job with minimum terms tomorrow. My son has several ex-school friends who are now 21 and can list their last 10 employers on their CV because they move from one minimum terms job to another whether it is fast food, bar work, call centre work etc. This cannot be good for either the employer or employee?

I was offered VR terms in 2015 when my mail centre closed. I had 36 years service and was offered the full 104 weeks. If I had been 2 years older then I would have qualified for the enhanced pension and 52 weeks.

By the way, you never did let us know what you do for a living. From your posts I would assume that you have never worked for RM or its competitors?

Teslo, I very much doubt that 1 in 6 delivery posties will be laid off as that would be around 15,000 staff which would need to be done by natural attrition. If VR terms were applied then the new entrants or younger workers would be first out the door because it would be cheaper.
It would also mean the loss of around 750 managerial jobs as the current rate is around 1 in 20 so the same rules would apply and RM would most likely end up with an even older average age workforce?

Again, a bit off topic but my son who is 21 has been a shift manager at our local Pizza Hut for the last 12 months. One of the things that amazes him is the staff turnover rate where many new entrants don't last the first month. He spends most of his time training new staff and issuing endless amounts of new uniform.
Welcome to the new world. Rubbish Ts&C's, low wages and a high turnover of staff. Is it really cost effective?
Didn't Sid Vicious sing "no future for me"? What a visionary.

A bit off topic but keeping on the ageism theme;
I would much prefer that my car was serviced by older mechanics with a couple of decades of experience behind them.
What about older premises with lead pipes? Young plumbers won't touch the stuff due to lack of experience.
I'm pretty sure that I make less mistakes in my 50s than I did when I was in my 20s, when my life was ruled with my dick instead of commonsense.
Wolves and Mad, in my opinion you are quite correct that Teslo's ageist argument doesn't stack up!
Crikey, you both agreed on something...lol

Teslo, perhaps this is a better way forward.
In the year 2274, the remnants of human civilization live in a sealed city contained beneath a cluster of geodesic domes, a utopia run by a computer that takes care of all aspects of life, including reproduction. The citizens live a hedonistic life but, to prevent overpopulation, everyone must undergo the rite of "Carrousel" when they reach the age of 30. There, they are killed under the guise of being "renewed.” To track this, each person is implanted at birth with a "life-clock" crystal in the palm of the hand that changes color as they get older and begins blinking as they approach their "Last Day".
It would certainly solve the pension crisis!

Teslo, when I joined RM in 1979 I was under the impression that I would only have to work until my 60th birthday. I would then receive my pension and disappear into the sunset.
But then something changed..... The bean counters realised that the old model was unsustainable and abolished the mandatory retirement age.
Your quote that "The problem at UKPIl is when you have an ageing workforce doing the same unskilled entry level job for 20-30 years. It creates disproportionate salaries and a lack of opportunities for youngsters who could add the same value for a third of the salary" may well hold true in an ideal world but unless the mandatory retirement age is reintroduced then that's not gonna happen and anyway why should today's kids have to my job for a third of my salary?
By the way, how old are you and what do you do for a living?

Teslo, your quote, "The median age of employees at the most successful companies in the world is between 29 - 31, again this is not a coincidence". This may be true in an ideal environment but that is not the age demographic of RM. Unless the shareholders are willing to agree to let older employees leave the business on VR terms then that's not gonna happen.
It's funny how the people in power, our CEO, the Lords, the Presidential candidates are all well into their 70s so how does that work?

In the 2017-18 year Royal Mail delivered around 14.4 billion letters (door to door is additional to this figure). Even at a decline of 9% per annum that means that 2020-21 should see it drop to around 11.2 billion Or 36 million letters per day, 6 days a week, 52 weeks per year.
According to some members of this forum, Royal Mail is doomed to failure (unless Rico turns things around, sacks all employees over the age over 50 and concentrates on parcels) and therefore will have a much smaller workforce so who is going to handle letters or empty the letter boxes? I can't see the likes of Amazon, Hermes, DPD, Yodel etc champing at the bit to take this part of the business on. Perhaps 16year old paper boys could do it cheaper, faster, better????

Teslo, your 17:32 post that mentions "Dad's Army" and "Age UK" would suggest that you hold a grudge against older workers? Why is that please?
As a Royal Mail employee with over 40 years of continuous service, I find this rather offensive. Obviously I am not as fit as when I started as a 16 year old but I am still more than capable of performing my duties.
Also, where did you get the ludicrous Idea that "Rico is being overly generous by phasing you out gradually over three years". As far as I am aware phasing out the over 50s over the next 3 years isn't on the RM BoD agenda? Unless you are privy to inside information???

RMTV has just released this.
"We have made a proposal to CWU. We want to get into detailed talks about the proposal and what we want from the union for your business. Play the video for more."
The video explains that RM want to offer a 3 year pay deal but cannot offer anything on the shorter working week "at this time'.
Perhaps a last ditch olive branch but not sure if it will appease the CWU?

200iq, does that OFCOM statement only relate to letters?

Fruitster, "only a massive fine"? I thought that sort of behaviour would carry some jail time? It's bad enough when you are an MP and ask your wife to take the points....then you upset her and she blabs to the red tops!

200iq, thanks. I was under the impression that she was rewarded for her part in privatisation.