Filed under: iPod Family, Odds and ends
Human Interest: Royal Mail workers lose iPod perk
Today's Apple-related human interest story centers on employees of the UK's Royal Mail. MacWorld UK reports that their communal iPod has been confiscated by management.
The iPod was provided by the Royal Mail to improve working conditions at a sorting depot in Newcastle. After one worker loaded a "rude spoof version" of "Oops, I did it again" (originally by musical maestro B. Spears[1]), the iPod was confiscated and disciplinary action launched. A Royal Mail spokesman said: "Royal Mail has an absolute policy of respect for all, and total opposition to any form of harassment." I'm pretty sure that being forced to listen to "Oops, I did it again" whether in its original or spoof version counts as musical assault but I don't quite see how it's "harassment". Here's hoping for a speedy return of the workers' iPod.
[1] No Köchel catalog numbering for "Oops, I did it again" is available at this time
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Daniel D said 10:04PM on 4-18-2007
"I'm pretty sure that being forced to listen to "Oops, I did it again" whether in its original or spoof version counts as musical assault but I don't quite see how it's "harassment". "
lol nice, dont worry about it just more politically correctness taken waaay too far and the company trying to cover its ass.
I dont see whats wrong with just a cd player though rather then an ipod....sharing an ipod doesnt work too well.
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Pete White said 6:20AM on 4-19-2007
Typical stupid political correctness.
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matt.thundergeek said 9:10AM on 4-19-2007
What can I say? As some one who worked for RM a few years ago I can say they have issues. For example,once a week while everyone was busy sorting mail into their delivery frames they'd haul everyone up to watch some video on political correctness (OK, the stuff with dealing with dogs was useful!).
Anyway, everyone was peeved because it meant they were getting out later to deliver, most of the old timers don't care, same goes for a lot of new guys. But here's the thing, it's RM's fault. They employ new people for the minimum time possible, renewing their contract for 3 months until they're obliged by law to offer them a permament job. A decent company would offer employees a full time job after the first 3 months, not keep screwing them about.
So because they're switching staff so often and changing (typically merging) delivery rounds so they can get the mail out, some rounds never even get a regular postman. On my street there was a period for about a year where we had a different postman every week. What this means is the postman never gets a chance to learn the round (a postman gets his letters and sorts them into a 'frame' which has all of the addresses on his round on it). Hence the mail is delivered habitually late, we reguarly got ours around 4 to 5pm. Probably the result of someone doing the round after their main round.
To sum up, I expect nothing less from RM. They have long since lost any real pride in the work they do.
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MICK46 said 3:25PM on 4-24-2007
It does not surprise me in the least, Royal Mail has been badly run for years, however after appointing Allan Leighton as Chairman , the likes of Crozier for hype and spin , arrogant idiots such as Tony McEvoy and the Aerial Sharron school of Industrial Relations , it's the firm that would make cardboard submarines!.
There is a extremely dated and backward style of top down, command and control management, the chairman thinks he's running Walmart, thier arrogance is breathtaking.
The overzealous political correctness started after a SUICIDE by a black postal worker committed suicide, secondly thier was a Asian worker who won a Industrial Tribunial Settlement of £18K . First instance was Royal Mail managers who thought they were running a Prison , second it's the dreadful culture, the care in the workplace morons that give a once proud service a bad name, also the Command and ignore jumped up jobbing foremen as Line Managers.
The Royal Mail was threatened with investigation by the CRE & EOC, but the Royal Mail and wheeled out this zero tolerance Harrasment Code , the Royal Mail had to catch up with the real world , it's trying to reach the late 80's , early nineties, prievously the Lord Sawyer Report said the Rm was similar to 60's heavy industry, so it's a start!.The Management style is arrogant, bullying and extremely regimented, everything is spin and hype for the CRE and EOC, the reality is there was a TUC survey stating only the Prison Service had a worse reputation for bullying, the RM is only intrested in covering themselves against Industrial Tribunuals , negative pubclity they cannot control .
There's been many cases of mindless political correctness, we had the misfortune to encounter a very mediocre jumped clerk from Bolton looking for a scalp and save himself from Allan's axe, A Racially abused white guy was in fact charged with racism and making malicous complaints about a otherwise unemployable Muslim in Central Lancs .At the same sorting office a so called morale boosting raffle was fixed to allow a non union one dimensional moron , the son of a manager to win a car. This the industry that would make Cardboard Submarines, so this mindless regimentation to impress other idiots in charge is quite common.
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