"We are not against change, and we want to modernise with the times. But let’s do it fairly"
“It’s never an easy decision to decide to take strike action. We lose earnings when we don’t work. That’s hard at any time let alone in a cost-of-living crisis."
“But I felt I had to reluctantly take this action to campaign for a fair pay rise, and to protect the terms and conditions of the service I love."
“The job is changing so much now. Managers want to squeeze as much work out of us as they can, and we are expected to be like robots."
“I could understand these changes to our service if it led to improvements for customers, but the opposite is happening. It’s all about profit. We used to be a public service and now we’re more like a gig economy."
“The postal delivery assistants (PDAs) were introduced a few years back so we could scan and track parcels – which is helpful for customers. But now they’re being used to track every movement we make. If we’re not moving quickly enough, then the PDA flags it, and you get pulled up about it at work. It's so stressful. Where is the trust?"
“I want to go out with my van, deliver my post, talk to my customers, and then come back again having done a good job. The reality now is that we don’t have time to even speak to our customers – we have around 6 seconds to deliver an item before we have to be on our way again."
“Morale is at rock bottom. The job has changed dramatically just in the 6 years that I’ve been doing it."
“It’s all about threat-based management reliant on fear and intimidation, where you’re constantly scrutinised and challenged. We had one manager come in and say to us: ‘I will break you.’ No one can work like that."
“And the workload has increased so much – we deliver so many more parcels now than ever before – but there’s no facilities in place to help with this. We’re expected to do more and more, for less and less."
“This has an impact on staff retention. Being a postal worker used to be a job for life. Most young people who join the service now only last a short period because they realise they can get treated and paid better elsewhere. In my office alone, we’ve had many new starters work for a few months then leave."
“That means the managers take on agency staff, which is cheaper for them as they don’t have to pay them holiday pay or contribute to a pension pot. But the agency workers then get fed up of being bullied and intimidated and – understandably – quit. They are a false economy for the business. They can’t do as much as a fully trained postal worker, but they are used to make up the numbers. Quantity over quality."
“We are all struggling to get by – but the shareholders are getting bigger and bigger dividends. All the cuts are from the bottom, to the front-line staff’s pay and conditions, rather than looking at how to grow the business in a sustainable way. Or giving the shareholders slightly smaller bonuses."
“I’m not asking to be a millionaire, but I do want a decent standard of living in the city where I live. That shouldn’t be too much to hope for."
“I’d urge Royal Mail to listen to their staff. We are not against change, and we want to modernise with the times. But let’s do it fairly."
“We also deserve a fair pay rise. The profits the company make should be reflected in our pay – we are the ones out there day after day earning the money. Some weeks I have to work 6 days just to make ends meet. That’s not right."
“Posties have a real love for this job. It’s a nice feeling bringing people things that they want and need – I feel like Santa Claus! And we have a genuine community mindset. We want to help when we can. A colleague of mine saw a poster about a lost ferret, found it, and reunited it with its owner. And I’ve been up a tree in an old lady’s garden picking her apples for her!"
“The public also love their postal workers. We saw that in the pandemic with people coming out to talk to us and putting up posters about us in their windows."
“I want to carry on doing this job to help people and bring some joy to their lives – not to be interrogated by managers for taking too long to deliver a letter.”