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Junk mail postman 'still in job' (faces discipline because he told how to AVOID junk mail)
The BBC ^ | September 1, 2006

Posted on 09/03/2006 11:16:12 AM PDT by Stoat

Junk mail postman 'still in job'

 

Roger Annies
Roger Annies advised people how to reduce their junk mail
A postman suspended for telling people how to stop receiving junk mail says he remains a Royal Mail employee, but will know if he is to be sacked in a week.

Roger Annies, 45, attended a disciplinary hearing after circulating his own leaflet on his round in Barry, south Wales, about unsolicited mail.

Royal Mail said their "door to door" service was vital to its business and keeping costs to customers down.

Some residents in Barry said they may start a petition to support Mr Annies.

Following the hearing in Cardiff, Mr Annies told reporters he was not allowed to comment, but confirmed he was still employed by the Royal Mail.

Amarjite Singh, acting south east Wales representative for the Communication Workers Union, said : "He will have to wait seven days now to find out what the outcome will be.

TO STOP JUNK MAIL, CONTACT:
Unaddressed mail - Opt-Outs, Royal Mail, Kingsmead House, Oxpens Road, Oxford, OX1 1RX
Addressed mail - Mail Preference Service (MPS), Freepost 29, LON 20771, London, W1E 0ZT or call 0845 703 4599
Source: Postwatch

"The matter is now finished and it is just a matter of awaiting to hear what the decision will be.

"He gave his version of events about what was involved and whether he acted as he did through malice or whether it was a misunderstanding."

Mr Annies delivered a leaflet to households on his round which gave instructions on how to stop receiving "unwanted post".

But the father-of-one, from Barry, was suspended when his actions came to the notice of Royal Mail managers.

Mr Annies is originally from Germany, and Mr Singh said although his English was good, it was his second language and he was capable of making mistakes.

"Everything is now being weighed up," he said.

"The worse case scenario is that he loses his job. We all hope that it will not come to that," he added.

'Fed up'

Karen Sacrel, who lives opposite Mr Annies in Barry, said some people were talking about starting a petition to support him.

She told BBC Wales: "We totally feel it's unfair, and he is all for the people.

"I've spoken to other people and they don't want junk through their mail either. We get loads of junk and we're totally fed up with it.

"He was doing us all a favour but unfortunately he's had a lot of trouble over it.

"We think they should give him his job back and a pat on the back for thinking on behalf of the people. He's a very loyal postman."

Barry councillor Robert Curtis said: "All the local ward councillors had a discussion about this and in principle they support what Mr Annies is doing.

"If the Royal Mail do manage to silence him then we will carry on with his campaign and make sure all residents know about the opt-out service regarding junk mail."

Royal Mail has said it delivers less than a quarter of the UK's unaddressed mail saying "if we do not deliver this mail then rival companies will".

When asked about the disciplinary hearing, a spokeswoman for the Royal Mail said they would not issue a statement .

 

SEE ALSO

How to junk junk mail
06 Oct 05 |  Working Lunch

 
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TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: britain; england; greatbritain; junkmail; mad; mail; rogerannies; royalmail; uk; unitedkingdom
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More on this story:

Independent Online Edition This Britain

Postman waits to learn his fate

By Matthew Beard

Roger Annies, the postman who advised people on his round how to avoid junk mail, attended a disciplinary hearing at the delivery office in Barry, South Wales, yesterday.

Speaking after the hearing, Amarjite Singh, the acting south-east Wales area representative for the Communication Workers Union, said: "He will have to wait seven days now to find out what the outcome will be. The matter is now finished."

Mr Annies, 48, landed in trouble with his bosses after he told people on his round how to avoid junk mail. He thought he was giving a service to customers.

In a leaflet distributed on his round, he informed them: "As you will have certainly already noticed, your postman is not only delivering your mail; he/she also has to deliver some (anonymous) advertising material called door-to-door items.

"For the near future, Royal Mail plans to increase your advertising mail. This will mean a lot more unwanted post in your letterbox. You may be interested in reducing your unwanted advertising mail, and reduce paper usage in order to help save the environment. If you complete the slip below and send it to the Royal Mail delivery office, you should not get any of the above mentioned unwanted advertising."

Royal Mail makes millions from delivering unwanted post. The bosses at his depot suspended the postman, who has two children and has been in the job for 10 years. He is likely to lose his job.

Mr Annies acted after dozens of complaints from householders. Within days of distributing his forms, at least 70 were returned demanding an end to the junk mail deliveries.

He declined to discuss his suspension but a colleague said he was merely responding to complaints. Homeowners called for him to be reinstated. "No one wants this junk mail building up. Roger was just letting us know what Royal Mail should have told us in the first place," said one.

 

The Sun Online - News 'No sack' for junkmail postie

'No sack' for junkmail postie
 
 
September 02, 2006
 
JUNK mail row postie Roger Annies may be allowed to keep his job, it emerged yesterday.

Roger — suspended for giving “stop junk post” advice leaflets to customers — attended a 5½-hour disciplinary hearing.

He said afterwards: “I’m still in the dark.”

But the Communication Workers’ Union said it would be “surprised” if he was sacked.

Roger, 44, is backed by householders on his round in Barry, South Wales.

Customer Sue O’Niell, 39, said: “He’s a local hero. It’s a disgrace he has been suspended.”


1 posted on 09/03/2006 11:16:13 AM PDT by Stoat
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To: Stoat

This smells of money. Whose pocketbook did he tap into?


2 posted on 09/03/2006 11:21:06 AM PDT by CindyDawg
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To: CindyDawg
This smells of money. Whose pocketbook did he tap into?

From the Independent article:

"Royal Mail makes millions from delivering unwanted post. The bosses at his depot suspended the postman, who has two children and has been in the job for 10 years."

3 posted on 09/03/2006 11:23:55 AM PDT by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: Stoat
oh i want someone to tell me how to get off all the junk mail
lists too! half of what i bring in from our box goes directly
in the recycle can...argh! what a waste!

and, yes, i've even called all those stinkin' catalog
companies to try to get off the list and they just send
me more!!! wahhhhhh!
4 posted on 09/03/2006 11:24:24 AM PDT by leda (Life is always what you make it!)
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To: CindyDawg
The question I have is, "Is there any way to do this in the USA?"

I measure my junk mail by the pound and with the holiday's coming, maybe by the hundred pounds.

5 posted on 09/03/2006 11:24:41 AM PDT by chuckles
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To: Stoat

Can we do the same thing in America?? I dont want any junk mail either.


6 posted on 09/03/2006 11:25:58 AM PDT by escapefromboston (manny ortez: mvp)
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To: All
I can't blame the mailman. I used to be a mailman and it seems like 90 percent of what I had to deliver was junk that went straight into the garbage. Its not like you get any sense of job satisfaction by delivering a pound of catalogs that people don't want anyways.
7 posted on 09/03/2006 11:29:53 AM PDT by escapefromboston (manny ortez: mvp)
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To: Stoat
Here it is illegal to put stuff in a mail box with out postage.

If he is hired to deliver mail with postage being paid he should do that.

He should of paid for the postage and mailed the letters to people on his route, then he could deliver his message.

The point here is not the message he delivered, but moonlighting on company time.

8 posted on 09/03/2006 11:30:52 AM PDT by Mark was here (How can they be called "Homeless" if their home is a field?.)
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To: Stoat

9 posted on 09/03/2006 11:31:35 AM PDT by Larry Lucido ("There's no problem so big that government intervention can't make it worse.")
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To: escapefromboston; chuckles; leda; All
Regarding the popular question of "how can I stop receiving junk mail?", a cursory search at the USPS site brought up this page....other options may well exist and it's probably best to inquire with your local Post Office

Answer

Question
  Removing my name from mailing lists
  Answer
  To remove your name from common mailing lists, you may write to:

MAIL PREFERENCE SERVICE
DIRECT MARKETING ASSOCIATION
POST OFFICE BOX 643
CARMEL NY  10512-0643

EQUIFAX INC
NAME REMOVAL DEPARTMENT
POST OFFICE BOX 740241
ATLANTA GA  30374-0241

EXPERIAN
ATTN  CONSUMER SERVICE DEPT
901 WEST BOND STREET
LINCOLN NE  68521-3694

TRANSUNION LLC
NAME REMOVAL OPTION
POST OFFICE BOX 505
WOODLYN, PA 19094-0505


10 posted on 09/03/2006 11:40:26 AM PDT by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: Stoat
Now thats helpful information.
11 posted on 09/03/2006 11:50:24 AM PDT by escapefromboston (manny ortez: mvp)
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To: Stoat

cool! thanks!


12 posted on 09/03/2006 11:56:45 AM PDT by leda (Life is always what you make it!)
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To: Stoat

If the Royal Mail Service hired him to deliver junk mail, then he should do his job and deliver junk mail. What's it to him? The company is right, it brings revenue to the company, and if they didn't deliver it, someone else would. Junk mail pays his salary, so he should keep quiet and simply deliver it, since that's his job to do so. I have no sympathy for him.


13 posted on 09/03/2006 12:01:55 PM PDT by Ciexyz (Leaning on the everlasting arms.)
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To: Stoat
it's probably best to inquire with your local Post Office


I get that particular question infrequently, but I do have that information in a handy place so I can FAX it or just read it to the customer.
Write to the mail preference center and just ask to be removed from mailing lists.
You will not be removed from lists which you've asked to be on. (Yes there are folks you like to recieve bulk business mail.)

The listing lasts about 6 months, so do it twice a year.

14 posted on 09/03/2006 12:19:38 PM PDT by ASA Vet (3.03)
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To: Ciexyz

Bulk Business Mail accounts for 60% of USPS revenue.


15 posted on 09/03/2006 12:21:16 PM PDT by ASA Vet (3.03)
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To: ASA Vet
I before E except after C. Sheesh.

Receive

16 posted on 09/03/2006 12:22:30 PM PDT by ASA Vet (3.03)
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To: Stoat
Can I take from this posting that Britain has (gasp) *competition* in the mail business?


Ah, back in the day, we would get mail twice a day, once on Sat and stamps were under a nickle. But then gas was 25c and bread was under a dollar. (I date myself)
17 posted on 09/03/2006 12:26:35 PM PDT by ASOC (The phrase "What if" or "If only" are for children.)
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To: leda
oh i want someone to tell me how to get off all the junk mail lists too! half of what i bring in from our box goes directly in the recycle can...argh! what a waste!

and, yes, i've even called all those stinkin' catalog companies to try to get off the list and they just send me more!!! wahhhhhh!

I feel certain you have gotten on the "folks who don't know how to capitalize" mailing list.

It can be deucedly hard to get free of, I'm told.

18 posted on 09/03/2006 12:28:27 PM PDT by humblegunner (If you're gonna die, die with your boots on.)
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To: Stoat

Can you do it on line?

I do everything I can to keep from giving the PO 39 cents to accomplish anything!


19 posted on 09/03/2006 12:35:49 PM PDT by dalereed
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To: humblegunner; patton

we bought our place from the in-laws.

pats mom is the mail order catalog queen.... sigh!


20 posted on 09/03/2006 12:36:15 PM PDT by leda (Life is always what you make it!)
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