Comments by "doveton sturdee" (@dovetonsturdee7033) on "Royal Mail redundancies 'cynical, calculated and contrived' says Andy Furey" video.

@beardedloon77 Precisely his point, surely?. The number of letters has hugely reduced since the advent of e-mail and smartphones. The number of parcels has greatly increased, as a result of on-line shopping, but so has the number of courier companies willing to deliver them more quickly and more cheaply than Royal Mail.
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@deco2132 Quite. I used to be a courier for one of the companies you named, until I escaped, and the rates of pay and general treatment we 'self employed' people received from them were disgraceful. Like it or not, as long as these companies are permitted to behave as they do, the Post Office will continue to decline.
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@milsimjedi I know. Various governments have permitted what Frank Field called the Wild West Gig Economy to expand to a level where many people working within it have virtually no rights. Do you really believe that any government of whatever shade of political opinion intends to do anything about it?
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Fine. But the volume of letters would still have decreased following the expension of the internet and the appearance of smartphones, whether the service was private or nationalised. Parcel volumes have greatly increased with the advent of on-line ordering, but so has the number of courier companies willing to deliver them more cheaply and more quickly. Do you really believe that a nationalised Post Office would have been better able to compete with these companies?
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@milsimjedi I know precisely how badly couriers are paid and are treated, as I briefly was one until I escaped. Nevertheless, the courier companies have no problems obtaining people to deliver their parcels. The fact is that letters and general mail have both decreased in volume as the internet and smartphones have expanded
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