From the Postman's Side
I'm a postman based in REDCAR, the way I see it, the government have got to decide, is the postal service 'a service to the public', or is purely about making money?
You won't find the competitors taking a postcard to a granny living in Castleton, they are simply skimming the business side.
The other point people don't realise, is that although yes we are loosing business to the competition, Royal Mail still does the last mile, by delivering our competitors mail, and I reckon we'll still be doing it in 10yrs time. Apart from anything else the postman's sack is getting heavier.
So yes I'm quite prepared to strike for a decent living wage.
And no I'm not underworked & overpaid, it's a semiskilled job, I'm entrusted to look after in some cases mail valued at £1000, you see a man walking down the street pushing letters into a letterbox and say I could do that job, you don't see the 500 letter frame I've got to sort everymorning come rain hail or shine.

Len Wilson, REDCAR, England

Im a postman in london and as has been said we are not striking over pay but the whole future of royal mail which will only be about 5 years if leighton and crozier carry on the way they are , you can get the most hi-tec equipment in the world but you still the postie to deliver your goodies , there is too nuch political involvement ,with too many regulators setting silly targets but only on royal mail it should be the same for ALL delivery companies or none at all . Its time for a change but only at the top and no future ceo should be paid the outrageously disgusting wages that these 2 people get

charlie essex, grays, u.k

Believe it or not Royal Mail are well aware of the product provided by DX - we find them in the mailboxes daily and though we aren't paid for them, we nevertheless deliver them.

The crux of the matter is business mail, collected, sorted and taken to Mech Centres - however that's where these "competitors" leave the field. They have no need or desire to go the final mile and actually deliver it.

At the end of the day delivery is the final product. It is expensive and labour intensive and there is no substitute for hands and feet in delivering mail.

Royal Mail are badly managed it is true but we have not been well served by this Government nor the Regulator.

Jackson, Manchester, England

If all the strings that are attached to the 2.5% pay offer were printed and made public, then I think most people would understand why the postal workers have voted for industrial action

Jeff, Basildon, UK

This vote has not been solely about pay. It is a reaction to the systematic bullying of Royal Mail management over the last 18 months, it's about the broken promises and the many strings attached to their pay offer. If the offer was accepted, there are a good many postal workers that would actually be subjected to a greater workload for less remuneration, in real terms. Postal workers have actually been told that they are 25 % overpaid and 40 % under worked. The workforce generally accept there needs to be change and modernisation, but in a constructive manner and not through the "bully boy" tactics being used by Royal Mail.

Dave, South West England,

As a postman I am disappointed at the way this article is being portrayed.The reason for the yes vote and i believe i speak for the majority of my colleagues is not the 2.5%pay offer but a comprehensive and determined attack on terms and conditions.Our very livelihoods are under threat.
No one wants strike action, but no one in the same situation, would passively stand by and allow there livelihood to be so undermined with the conditions that are attached to this pay offer
For a number of years now royal mail has replaced every full time person that leaves or retires with someone on a part time contract and have a policy to not employ on a full time basis.on top of this there has been cut after cut after cut.We are watching our jobs and the service being gradualy eroded.Would you stand by and allow your livelihood to be taken away?

john, west midlands,

simon, surrey, uk are you a royal mail manager because thats the sort of statement they would make , postmen and women do a great job , there out in all winds and rains, so saying the cwu are like dinosaurs you are pointing your finger at the postmen and women , has for door to doors no one wants that rubbish pushed through there letter boxes any way , royal mail managers they start off as postmen and find that doing that job for about a 8 weeks its hard work , so they try to be managers (but you then find they int much good at that , no man managment skills and they bully staff people do not see all of this ) there are some good managers but they are few and far between , i have found that years ago they where better managers then , you could talk to one then , the new style managers adam & allan need to be sacked, they keep closing post offices, its like they want to run royalmail into the ground ,but the cwu will not let them do that , 77% voted yes.

delivery dave, swindon, wiltshire

I am a postman from Mitcham and I would like it be known that, we are not striking over pay. It is in fact over the working conditions, cut backs on all overtime and the closing of the local post office which, will affect almost everyone. When we lose our night overtime soon, I will lose for 2 nights a week, almost £90. Then, when the early start allowence stops( we start at 5.00a.m.) that will be another £12.50. Plus, they want us to deliver about 5-8 leaflets for nothing. We get about £24 for that. We are also expected to finish our round, do another 2 streets of another round and, now added to that, once a week, another road on top of that!! Working conditions are top of the list. Mind you, it might help if our top 2 men in the Royal Mail stopped getting a bonus of almost a million pounds!
P.S. I will of course be pulled in the office for sending this to you and if it get's printed!!

Johnnie Savile, Mitcham, Surrey

A customer came into the Royal Mail Delivery office yesterday to collect a package. She was full of praise for the way we operate. "Being able to collect a package locally and dealing with people that do go that extra mile all counts for something" she told me.
Anyone can stick door to doors through a letterbox. But what happens when the more illusive, incorrectly addressed item appears. Concert tickets, birthday cards or hospital appointments perhaps. Then you will see the true cost of your first class stamp. The whole delivery office rallying around to enable successful delivery for "that final mile". These are the real things that affect all of us.
Now consider how Royal mail has been bled dry over the years and received little or no investment. And to crown it all something called Postcomm was introduced compounding the whole problem. It’s the postman/postwoman who is in it for the longterm. They are the future of Royal mail.

Rob, Somewhere in Gwent, Gwent

I feel its time, not just over pay but the way postal workers have been treated they are bullied and harrassed by managers with increasing work loads, as you said in your report at the moment postman are still delivering large volumes of mail and covering more area in the same time they now deliver later, as this is what us the public want, it only in the collection that Royal Mail are making a loss, in our area we have always hit targets in our cuts for the last 10 years, now that other are not hitting target we get punished.
I have just read that our boss have been given a bonus, but are not having a wage increase, big deal, how can you get a bonus for taking a company of Royal Mail to the wall, i expect the selling the company assets and pocketing the money shows you done well for the year., the next thing will go will be the red letter box at the end of the road,
I have been a postman for 25 years, i have loved my job and would support the company in most things, enough, enough

Derek Ohren, Newport, England

We want a fair inflation payrise! We are all faced with a higher cost of living.
The public get to know half of the story, Has Royal Mail stated publically that they want to make savings of 360 million a year? Or 40,000 job losses; Postal staff to get half inflation rise with 22 strings attatched which would worsen the service.
The CWU is made to look like the rogue again!
I think it's the fat cats again awarding themselves ' a well earned bonus' for a job not well done!!!

mark, cornwall,

I work for Royal Mail and the reality is that we are trying to compete with one hand tied behind our back due to the restrictions that are placed on us by the regulator Postcomm. Whereas our competitors are free to set their own prices and undercut Royal Mail, our prices have to be agreed in advance. We cannot therefore pro-actively react on pricing while the current restrictions apply. Create a level playing field and let's see how our competitors respond to handling deliveries in remote parts of the country cheaper than Royal Mail!

Neil Tarry, Northampton, England

As with all numbers they can be manipulated ask any postperson delivering, they are delivering more on a daily basis. However Royal Mail does not recognise this as most of this is 'Down stream' access. Also Royal Mail is Top Heavy with 'managers' who would not be managerial material in the private sector and this is where Royal Mail can and should make their savings instead of a knee jerk reactions resulting in attacking delivery staff without whom Royal Mail would not have a business .

Peter Rowland, weston super mare, United Kingdom

When the likes of TNT, UK mail, start employing delivery staff on the basic wage, you will find that the quality that is now been given by the Royal Mail posties will be highlighted.

The Simon's of Surrey will of course be the first to complain.

Paul Fellows, doncaster, south yorkshire

I hope RM leaders will take time from counting their bonuses and return to negotiations.

billyb8, cambridge, UK

Any profits need to be ploughed back into the company in order to modernise the company, or else we will be pushed aside by our competitors.

Tony Empson, plymouth, devon

DX Group offer a door-to-door B2B mail service and residential SecureDX product already.

Peter Beckett-Morley, Warrington, UK

Please, please, please, when will UK Mail or other private competitors start to offer a door-to-door service? They've got my business!

As usual, the dinosaurs at the CWU are busily driving a nail into the coffin of yet another national company. Well done comrades!

simon, surrey, uk