Letter: Postal challenges

Letter: Postal challenges
From The Independent May 23rd, 2001

R T B DYKES Sir: Derek Hodgson (letter, 22 May) is right to defend the competence
and honesty of postmen and women, since that is how the overwhelming majority
of our employees behave. However, the Postal Regulator is also right (report,
19 May) to point to the damaging consequences of continuing militancy among
union activists in Royal Mail. But it is misleading to imply that the whole
business is incapable of change. A transformation programme is under way and
Consignia (formerly the Post Office) recognises the need to improve services
to customers and become more productive. For example, working patterns at 900
of the 1,400 Royal Mail delivery offices nationwide have been revised in the
past year alone. But we also recognise the need to quicken the pace at which change is
introduced. We know, too, that time is not on our side. Management and our
employees have been set a major challenge by the regulator. Competition – from
e-mail, fax and telephones – is already intense and while Consignia is the
first and still the only major operator to be licensed to deliver the mail,
the regulator will doubtless license rivals in due course to compete
head-to-head with us. Certainly, Royal Mail’s record on strikes, especially unofficial
action, has got to be improved. The vast majority of postmen and women are
hardworking and committed to serving their customers, but 63,000 days lost to
strike action last financial year – 95 per cent of which was unofficial – is
simply unacceptable. The union leadership must know that time is running out and that the
regulator’s warnings on job losses will become all too real if this continues. R T B DYKES Group Managing Director, Mail Services Consignia London EC1 Copyright: Independent Newspapers(UK) LimitedINDEPENDENT, 23rd May 2001