Post Haste

If you live in the UK it may have escaped your attention that today is the second day of the postal strike, meaning that postal workers have not touched a single envelope since 7pm last night. I’m not sure of their point exactly, and I wonder why they are doing this.

First of all, the point of the postal strike is that it is meant to have impact. It puts people’s noses out of joint, winds them up and wish the strike never happened. However, with a postal strike, you get your post a few days late. That’s nothing new. It just means the postal workers have twice as much work to do when they get back.

And that’s the point. If the postal service can cope with a lot more mail than would normally be expected, then it gives credence to the notion that reduced staff numbers can cope with the normal load. Also, as a result of the postal strikes, I would expect many companies to ‘try out’ an alternative delivery company and be that more satisfied with the new company that they won’t return to Royal Mail.

The strikes are only funding their own downfall. The UK is fast turning from so-called "snail mail" for email, SMS messaging and phone calls rather than waiting days for an item of post that has no guarantees over its arrival date, let alone time. If the postal service does not modernise as per the recommendations, losing a few jobs will be the least of their worries.