Ok, Ive got to stand up for Royal Mail employees here. I worked in the sorting office for several years and also as a temperorary postwoman when I rejoined a few years later via a temp company, plus my dad was a postie for 26 years so Ive a bit of an insight into what goes on behind the scenes.
When I first joined royal mail 11 years ago a s a 16 year old, I was given 2 weeks training to learn the job before even being allowed on the floor. My dad was disapointed with that because he got 2 months shadowing a postman when he joined them 20 years earlier. Over the years working there, the mail load increased and we were expected to sort 40 letters per minute which increased I think to 50 letters per minute (this is by hand throwing them into pidgeon holes with all the postcodes in the country on them) We were hired directly by royal mail back then
When I did some christmas sorting work for them a few years back, I was told royal mail were not hiring temps any more, i had to go to a temps agency and join as agency staff. I was the only person who was english in the temps who started, this wouldnt be a problem except many of the immigrant staff did not only not speak english well but could not read it either, they were asked to simply `learn the postcodes`.
I was then sent out to do a postal round, unlike my dads two months training, I recieved NONE! I was given two bags for two round which in the past would have been done by two postmen. it was put on a cart and I was given a hand drawn map of the route, which was wrong and I had to keep asking for directions. Half way round a bloke asked if I had put letters through his door, and I said ye and it turned out I was on the wrong street entirely. I wanted to finish the round to not let people down so I carried on delivering the letters until 6 pm, explaining to everybody on the route that nobody showed up to do the round so I was doing it for them. When I got back to the depo it was shut and because it was shut I could not write the hours I worked in the book and so I could not get paid for the work I did! Heaven knows how the none english speakers got on!
So please dont blame the postie, they are asked often to work under very unreasonable circumstances, the managers are driving it into the ground, probably being paid backhanders to wreck its monopoly.