The end of a 100yr tradition

If the universal mail service is unprofitable in these modern times surely it is only right that the service is cut to reflect reality. After all London used to have 6 deliverys a day - nobody would suggest that service should have been retained.

The other parcel carriers offer a delivery service across the country for the same price (apart from some remote islands) so why cant Royal Mail do the same?

There must be massive savings to be made from reducing the letter service - and concentrating on parcels. If other households are like mine then the postie delivers about 2/3rds junk mail so reducing the frequency of that is of no consequence.

I'm in the middle of this.

Basically, the Royal Mail CEO has ripped up all the agreements it had with the CWU and gone to war with them. I have never seen anything like it, he is all over social media like a teenage troll, constantly goading the union and making threats to his workers. He has obviously asked his senior managers to go out of their way to wind up their staff in an effort to force a wildcat strike, so they can they run to the courts and get an injunction on the national strikes. I have never seen an atmosphere so toxic between managers and workers.

It is obvious to all why he is doing this. The share price has tumbled, allowing a large shareholder to increase his stake in the company ready for a takeover. Who just so happens to a billionaire that has made his money in the European parcel business.

So now we get to the universal service (letters). Nobody wants it. It is impossible to make money from. There is a national network of trucks, trains, planes and vans that have to run 24/7 even if there is no mail... because there might be some, and the 1st class, 2nd class promises have to be kept. So, what Royal Mail want to do is run the universal service down, first no Saturdays, then it will be three times a week, then twice, then once... and probably delivered by some gormless agency worker on the cheap.

The 10,000 job cuts are a red herring. Royal Mail has spent the last few years building parcel & packet sorting capacity. eg If your Amazon order can fit through the letter box then Royal Mail probably delivered it. They basically want to replace your postie with an "owner driver" ie self-employed twat in a battered white van doing his best Hermes impression.

The other parcel carriers offer a delivery service across the country for the same price (apart from some remote islands) so why cant Royal Mail do the same?

There must be massive savings to be made from reducing the letter service - and concentrating on parcels. If other households are like mine then the postie delivers about 2/3rds junk mail so reducing the frequency of that is of no consequence.

No they don't, the other carriers pick what they are going to deliver and to where (cherry picking).  Royal Mail has no choice.  You are basing your response on your personal experience, not the bulk deliveries that go on behind the scenes.

Royal Mail don't just want to reduce the letter service, they want rid of it altogether, so they can get rid of every delivery office in every town, and all the staff that go with them.  That will leave them to concentrate on parcel hubs.

Ask yourself what a company is doing making £750 million, and then giving away £600 million to shareholders / director bonuses.  Personally, to me, it looks like they are pleading poverty and going to war with the union on purpose, so they can claim they need to ditch the universal service.

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