Calli
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Postal StrikeHow are the small businesses coping with the postal strike?
Are the parcel networks picking up and covering your business in the interim and would you go back to the post after the action?
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Nick
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Generally, it's been one day, and everyone in the country knows about it. Hasn't affected the stuff I sell personally, or our business at all. I'd hope never to leave/lose the post office. No-one else is going to carry an item for me, within 24-48 hours from my doorstep to yours, in deepest Cornwall, or the Highlands, or the Yorkshire Moors, or wherever for 39p.
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Fee
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It would be a sad day if the post office was no longer available.
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marigold
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Scab labour appears to have negated any potential effects of the strike on deliveries here (so far).
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Nick
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I think it would be worse than sad. I think it'd be a disaster.
Businesses would cope and adapt, as they always have. I'd be more worried about the (stereotypical) old folk, without emails, and texts and Blackberries who, on limited budgets, thrive on letters, and Christmas cards from distant folk for news and a sense of community, and the postie may be the only person they see and keeps half an eye on them most days.
There are many other reasons the daily drop by a human being that everyone can have affordable access to is important.
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Calli
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Agree with you Nick.
That said I would prefer to see the Post Office commercially viable.
The powers that be sold off the commercially viable side of the business ( the collections side ) to the likes of TNT or anyone that wants to input into the network.
The high cost of deliveries is not being addressed, nor is the changing pattern of the deliveries themselves.
The advent of ebay and amazon and general online shopping patterns has altered the postman's post bag totally.
A physical limit - by size or by weight limits the amount of deliveries they can make.
The saying is 'the last mile' is apt - if they fail to deliver the last mile the whole process is a failure.
The Post needs addressing from the top down not just the postman on the street ( or rural lane.....)
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Nick
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I'd be happy to have it heavily subsidised 'just' for the old ladies to be able to send their book tokens out to distant grandsons. (No, I don't get them, it's not self interest.  )
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Calli
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| Nick wrote: | | I'd be happy to have it heavily subsidised 'just' for the old ladies to be able to send their book tokens out to distant grandsons. (No, I don't get them, it's not self interest. ) |
But subsidised by the parcel businesses inputting into the mail system surely
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Nick
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No, not necessarily. That would hurt businesses, unless you go back to a full, protected monopoly, which I don't think is in anyone's best interest. As a private tax payer, I'd have no problem with providing it as a service. It's as useless to the economy as libraries or art galleries, but to society these are good and priceless things to hang on to. And impossible to create these days.
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Calli
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no not the businesses in general using post, the agents like business post and TNT who collect letters from businesses - you may have seen the franking on the post - who recognise that they cannot afford to deliver this mail, who then take 20% at least and put it through the post for delivery - the last mile - the expensive bit. Collections are cheap - one pick up point 10,000 letters one drop off point mail hub. Job done....
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Nick
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They'd pass it along to the end user.
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Calli
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S'ok then  Big banks and insurance companies can afford it
You don't think they'd bother with anything less.......
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Hairyloon
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| Calli wrote: | | The Post needs addressing from the top down not just the postman on the street ( or rural lane.....) |
I have often thought that, where an essential service such as the Post Office, The Fire Service, the Bin men and the Busses (all of which are on strike today) feels they have no choice other than to strike, then that is likely to be a clear indication that the management are not up to the job, and should be replaced.
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marigold
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| Nick wrote: | | No, not necessarily. That would hurt businesses, unless you go back to a full, protected monopoly, which I don't think is in anyone's best interest. As a private tax payer, I'd have no problem with providing it as a service. It's as useless to the economy as libraries or art galleries, but to society these are good and priceless things to hang on to. And impossible to create these days. |
Nicely put.
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