Hinds: Keep your jobs, don’t make demands

“But, the key thing I will suggest is, hold on to your jobs because jobs are at a premium nationally, regionally and internationally given the global circumstance. All of us should take this into account.” Hinds made the appeal while delivering the feature address at the launch of the Postal Code and Address Improvement Project at the North Eastern Community Centre, Sangre Grande. The new S42 Addressing Standard, which is already being used in developed countries, is expected to improve efficiency in the postal service.

Pledging his support for the new initiative, Hinds told the audience: “I will stand firm with the entire staff of TTPost right down to the last worker. We are in tough times and we all at the level of the board , at the level of the management, at the level of the staff, if we have not yet understood, internalise that we are in tough times and it requires further sacrifice on all of our parts, sobriety, a calm approach and a focus, at least for workers to hold on to your jobs.” Hinds raised the issue of job security as he referred to a recent documentary about on-line shopping, which was found to be a growing trend internationally. He said the documentary revealed that some 70 per cent of a client’s overall cost was taken up with freight charges while the remaining 30 per cent covered warehousing charges and delivery.

The documentary, Hinds said, found that the 30 per cent cost for warehousing and delivery, regardless of the length of the journey, was inefficient and wasteful. “They are now finding ways to improve it and one of the ways is through unmanned trolleys, programmed through the use of information technology and computerisation,” he said.

The S42 Addressing Standard contains the addressee’s name, building number and street name, community name, postal district, post code and country name among other basic elements. It will replace the system of lamp post and lot numbers, mile markers and street names without building numbers.

Apart from making the postman’s job easier, Hinds said the new system also will facilitate more efficient processes and a faster turnaround at the post office. “It will improve efficiency inside of TTPost as an entity, saving money by saving time while at the same time improving the service to customers,” he said.