Royal Mail's Strike: Fire them all

The Royal Mail in the UK has been staging a series of strikes over the last week or so. Over what? It's primarily over the idea that the Royal Mail (a government agency) wants to modernize its processes to effectively compete with private carriers. Doesn't that sound crazy? Modernization? Wow - we better strike to protect the old way of doing things.

I get it - I really do. Unions have a place. Especially in the spaces where people don't REALLY have a choice. Either you can work at this manual labor factory for 20 hours a day for £.50 an hour, or you can starve on the street. But let's face it - that's not reality in most cases today. Do you work for a company that wants to modernize? Are you afraid that you don't add enough value to retain your job in that crazy new world order? Well then - quit. Go find another job. Go improve your skills so that you add so much value the company wouldn't dream of letting you go. Go figure out what your value is to the company. If you can't, then maybe you should be quiet. But form a union and hold the company hostage? Maybe good for the short term for you, but it sure as hell isn't saving the company or doing the right thing for all the other employees in the company. Go look at all the examples from the US of the auto makers who are affected by giant unions who strike for unjustified benefits - and then drive the entire company into bankruptcy and insolvency. Wow, that shows them, doesn't it?

Let me bring this back to my selfish point of view. We're buying a house. We mail contracts between the solicitor and us. Between the seller and the solicitor. What impact does the Royal Mail strike have on me? It reminds me why the government shouldn't be involved in enterprises where they don't have a unique need to be playing. Could a private mail service (or even services!) more effectively drive efficiencies? Maybe even promise me that my mail will actually get delivered? Yeah, I'm thinking so. Remind me to use FedEx next time and avoid the Royal Mail.

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