I see our new GPO is advertising for qualified staff.
Would imagine they will have no trouble with all the unemployment arround.
What happened to all the exisitng staff before moved to WHS and Sons

They got a lump sum instead of being moved to WHSmith on reduced wages.

Not sure what you mean by 'all this unemployment'. Some people have very short memories!

Brian,

See this link:
http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2...lures.html
It says that the Post Office forgot to tell their staff they could TUPE transfer to W H Smith!

In the case of the FHPO staff, they were offered a transfer to WH Smith PO but at lower rates of pay and lower pensions. Not surprisingly most chose to leave on 'enhanced redundancy' terms. I was told this by one of the counter staff at the now-closed FHPO.

That is a great pity because they had a wealth of experience,

If the have taken redundency does this preclude them applying to WHS.

I wonder how many people think they are still The RM not WHS , what would Her Majesty have to say about it

Brian, The Post Office has been a separate business to the Royal Mail for ages.

Oh as usual living in the past. I did not realise that

Having fired off a quick reply, I wasn't entirely correct. The Post Office is a separate business, but a member of the "Royal Mail Group", which also includes Parcelforce. Brian, I eat my words, with a side order of humble pie.

I quote:
Post Office Ltd is a separate company within and part of the Royal Mail Group that runs our 14,300 Post Office? branches across the country. We are the largest retail and financial services chain in the UK - bigger than all of the UK?s banks and building societies put together.

However, your council is now LBL (London Borough of Lewisham) rather than LBC (Lewisham Borough Council)!

Many thanks for your explanation. I know about Parcelforce as just retired from International Logistics. i believe a number of their competitors are not happy they are acting in a commercial way but being HMG owned

Well spotted Sherwood! Didn't know if the information about the court case was public which is why I haven't spoken up previously. The Post Office lost the TUPE case on all three points earlier this summer and we are waiting to see if they try to appeal, or if not, how much they will pay us in compensation. Although it suited me to 'take the money and run', there were colleagues that this has had a devastating impact on.
It is my personal belief that WHS did not want us to take up our TUPE rights for more than just monetary reasons. We as Union members, would also bring and extend membership into their business which would clearly make life more difficult for them.

This is a fairly common practice, when I was TUPE'd from BT which is heavily unionised to Hewlett Packard which isn't about 4 years ago, they kept us pretty much ring fenced and held seperate pay negotiations etc with us. This has remained so ever since.

annsquire66,

The relevant TUPE legislation is relatively new. But it seems to be very protective for employees and the courts are construing variations heavily in favour of the employee. One clear point is that union recognition is protected. I am being TUPE transferred and my union is writing to my new employer to point this out.

A post box has appeared outside WH Smith's. The box itself isn't new so presumably it's been moved from elsewhere. Did the FH Post Office have a pillar box outside, or have we inherited someone else's?

It wasn't from the old Post Office; theirs was built into the front of the premises. Glad to see they are recycling though!

there was a red post box outside the old sorting office on devonshire road next to the phone box, it that one still there?

The post box outside smiths has been blocked up where is the nearest postbox that is usable.

Closest pillar boxes to station:

Waldenshaw Road - corner of London Road
Devonshire Road - old sorting office
Dartmouth Road - opposite library
Perry Vale - car park

Plus Sainsburys one, which I find handy. (by the notice board behind checkouts).

One of my neighbours mentioned a robbery last Tuesday at our new post office. Is this correct ? What actually happened ?

And of course there is a posting box inside the post office, to the right as you face the counter...