COVID-19: How has my job as a postman changed?

Dan Fauzi, 22, a postman from Burton on Trent, tells us his story of being a postal worker during the coronavirus pandemic:

As the urgency of the coronavirus pandemic was approaching the country, work at Royal Mail largely remained consistent.

Aside from the hand washing and new hygiene rules implemented in almost every workplace nationwide, the first new measure for us was introduced just over a week before the lockdown was enforced: that employees must never personally hand anything to a customer.

Parcels were to be placed on the doorstep and, after moving to a distance of two metres from the door, the customer could retrieve it safely.

After the Prime Minister announced the lockdown, asserting the severity of the situation, Royal Mail banned the ‘two posties in a van’ approach.

This effectively restructured the entire operation as most of the rounds cannot be completed in full without two people delivering on the job.

What followed was a chaotic day in the office, with every manager trying desperately to assign posties to a job near to where they live, meaning they could complete some walks and go straight home without entering a Royal Mail vehicle.

The drivers were kept on their usual rounds, however those without a walker in their area were told they would have to complete half the job on one day, then take out two days’ worth of mail and parcels for the other half the next day, and so on.

As to be expected, all morning managers were arguing with drivers who were suddenly forced to do considerably more work, whilst the walkers were having to do less.

I live outside of the delivery area for the office, so they put me on a round where I follow the driver round in my own car.

This way I can still deliver everything I normally would while being able to maintain a safe distance from my partner.

This also made my role safer: over the past few weeks I haven’t been into the office once and I’ve been communicating with managers exclusively via text and phone call.

However, as I no longer go to the office, my partner must now prep a whole job for two people by themselves in the morning, meaning they’ve already had to do twice as much work by the time they get out on delivery.

Years of privatisation have resulted in Royal Mail being stretched as thin as possible.

It is not uncommon to come into work in the morning only to have an argument with a manager who wants you to take out more than you should; or for managers to ask staff if they can come into work on their days off and even on their annual leave.

This is mostly due to the fact that the offices are severely understaffed, but also in part to the meticulously tight budget that Royal Mail is now under.

Quality of service has heavily been transitioned out and replaced with corporate streamlining, devices that track posties’ movements and speeds, and a fundamental aim to save every penny possible, to allow the newly-invested shareholders to still make a profit out of a crumbling company.

From the outside it looks like Royal Mail is getting by okay during the crisis, but with a large chunk of the staff being older men, a considerable number of posties are off sick – as they cannot risk catching the virus or spreading it to their at-risk loved ones – meaning even more households are going without their daily post.

What stands out here, however, are the members of staff who understand how serious the situation is and have stepped up to keep Royal Mail operating as smoothly as they can, suddenly taking more time away from their families and personal lives to spend longer at work, ensuring that everybody can still communicate with their loved ones, all over the country.

With all of the tremendously challenging work that the brave NHS staff are doing, it does feel worthwhile to know that our jobs are still helping society in this time.

There are communities who rely on post to communicate with the rest of the UK and elderly people who no longer have access to supermarkets relying on family members delivering essentials to them.

The work does feel fulfilling, and everybody confined to their neighbourhoods are never short of praise for the work we do.

It is humbling and deeply heart-warming to hear customers thanking us for risking our safety to ensure that our job gets done.

It is a blessing that I have a reason to be out in the daylight every day, especially with the weather getting warmer and brighter.

What is really fascinating however is that, suddenly, we’re some of the only people in the whole country who are still able to wander the streets and observe a nation in lockdown.

Seeing all these different households and families adjust to the new society we live in is eye-opening, and the country should feel proud to be part of this solidarity.

On driveways and in windows we’re seeing scores of children’s creative messages of wellbeing and drawings of rainbows and sunny days.

Parents are directing all of their children’s restless energy into messages of positivity and solidarity with the frontline NHS workers holding the country together.

Everybody I walk past understands the situation and always maintains a two metre distance, while still remembering to be as friendly as they can in this time.

It seems all it takes is a common faceless enemy to unite a country together.

It will be difficult to return to the way things were after all is said and done.

I just hope that the parts that have begun to shine – the kindness, the mutual understanding, the empathy for our essential workers – remain in place and help build a society where people start to think more outwardly, towards a world of unified communities and universal wellbeing.

By Dan Fauzi

Feature image credit: Pixabay