Gary Duncan
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Royal Mail has lost a contract worth £8 million a year to deliver goods for Amazon, the online retailer of books, CDs, DVDs and other merchandise.
It is the latest in a series of important deals that Royal Mail has lost in the past year as it faces increasing competition from private delivery groups.
The loss of the contract to deliver second-class post for Amazon comes ahead of crucial talks aimed at averting a national strike by postal workers in a dispute over pay and modernisation.
Officials of Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union will meet at the offices of the conciliation service Acas today, although hopes of heading off a strike are not high. Union leaders are due to meet on Thursday to review any progress in the talks and are expected to call the first national walkout for more than a decade.
Royal Mail said that Amazon, one of the UK’s biggest online retailers, has decided that it will remove only its second-class mailings. Its first-class deliveries will continue to be made by Royal Mail.
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Part 2
The other thing Royal Mail could is just stop delivering to those places.
Postcom should be abolished and the government should release the shackles they insist on imposing on the Royal Mail so that it can compete agressively but fairly in an open market.
The public should also remember that in Adam Crozier and Allan Leighton, we have a management, that between them, left the Football Association in a mess and Leeds Utd FC nearly £100 million in debt (and look where they are now). They should also note that on top of his £613000 a year salary Mr Crozier has been awarded a £370000 bonus. All of this is in the Royal Mail's accounts, the publication of which,as conveniently been delayed.
Andy Jarvis, Postman, Melton Mowbray,
Of course the "management" will blame the Posties for this and not thier own incompetance!!!!!!!!!!
peter, weston super mare, United Kingdom
Judy,
I understand your concerns but you are wrong.
This dispute, despite what the Royal Mail would have you believe, is not just about pay. It's about the erosion of YOUR postal service. In our office we barely have enough staff to cover half of the jobs that need doing. When I approached my manager about training someone else to do a duty that I was covering, despite having a duty of my own, I was told there isn't enough money in the office budget to cover training. We're constantly being taken off our jobs to cover a job there should be enough staff for. This is the kind Royal Mail Mr Leighton and Mr Crozier want YOU to have. A Royal Mail that is under staffed, under trained and yes, for the main part, under paid. I accept the need for modernisation is paramount to the continued success of the business but at what price. The cold hard fact of the matter is that Royal Mail took a 10 year break from its pension fund and now YOU and we are paying the price, while they plug the hole
Andy Jarvis, Postman, Melton Mowbray,
The Challenges facing the Royal Mail are massive.
The single biggest obstacle that stands in front of the Royal Mail and the Union is the government and Postcom. How can a company be expected to compete fairly when they are being fined at every turn for not meeting service standards, while the competition do whatever they like with no penalties. If the likes of TNT and DHL want our business then let them, but make them accountable in the same way as the Royal Mail are.The customers deserve this right.
If the current trend continues Royal Mail will lose more of it's biggest customers leaving it in a situation where it can no longer guarantee the universal service agreement ( which means the Royal Mail HAVE to deliver to every address in the country). If this happens the Royal Mail will be forced to charge the true cost of delivering to small isolated communities and farms which is probably more in the order of £1.00 - £1.50 per first class item not the 34p people pay now.
Andy Jarvis, Postman, Melton Mowbray,
The Royal Mail is going just like the mine workers' union and the car workers' union in the States. It doesn't produce what is needed and the competition does a better job ... and yet they push the envelope and go on strike. Someone's giving them bad advice.
Judy, London, UK