Royal Mail backlog hits 30 million items
With potentially two or three more strikes planned for next week the massive task of cleaning up after this week strike action began today with 30 million items delayed in the post. Even though the Royal Mail has brought in an additional 30,000 part-time workers, on top of the original plans to bring in 30,000 Christmas workers, many believe this is not enough to clear the backlog in time for Christmas.
The higher the backlog becomes the more pressure this place is on the Royal Mail, employees and unions. The UK government has tried to turn the screw this week by suggesting that the unions could lose some of their power in the future although this is an idea which has infuriated Labour followers and could in turn lead to disharmony within the party.
There is no doubt that the UK government now needs to take a more hands-on approach because the Royal Mail, still owned by the government, is a focal part of the UK business arena not to mention very important for consumers. The longer this strike action continues the more damage to the long-term reputation of Royal Mail and the more job cuts will likely come in due course as business is lost and profits begin to ebb away.
Share this..
Related stories
Fourth-quarter economic data disappoints market
While strictly speaking the UK economy has now moved out of recession, unless the figures released by the Office for National Statistics are amended down over the next few weeks, the improvement of 0.1% was far short of the 0.4% expansion expected by analysts. This indicates that the UK economic upturn is far weaker than even the most pessimistic of analysts had expected and a small revision by th...
Read MoreCBI survey signals consumer upturn
While the headline figures from the CBI's latest survey make excellent reading, with 44% of the 143 companies who responded confirming sales grew in the first half of April, there is more to the report than meets the eye. Immediately after the figures were announced it was also revealed that the timing of Easter this year may well have given early April sales a significant boost and the figures co...
Read MoreThe philosophy behind boom and bust
Over the last few months there has been much mention of the economic cycle, the so-called boom and bust scenario, but does it actually exist?
Statistics show that we have experienced regular boom and bust economic cycles since time began and despite the attempts of many political parties and political leaders, this is a human issue which will never go away. In the good times everybo...
EU hedge fund restrictions could be softened
As the Swedish presidency of the EU comes to a close there are plans to water down the recently announced regulatory restrictions on hedge funds and private venture capital companies in Europe. This is an issue which has hit the UK financial sector very hard and indeed Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, recently confirmed his concerns regarding additional funding requirements which could see hedg...
Read MoreGordon Brown pleads for optimism from the UK public
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Gordon Brown has today pleaded for the UK population to remain optimistic about the future of the UK economy. However, many of the UK population are finding it very difficult to look ahead with optimism with the worsening economic situation, the increasing number of repossessions and unemployment forecast to reach 3 million. So what have we really got to be op...
Read More