The week that was: 23 September 2011
Partisan battles over postal reform in the US, Brazilian postal strike continues, Express concerns in Asia, and e-commerce delivery innovation in Ireland… This week’s top stories on Post&Parcel have included the continuation of partisan battles over postal reform legislation in the United States, strike action in Brazil, a slowdown in the Asian express market and a public consultation over the future of Britain’s Post Office network…
US politicians fail to see eye-to-eye over USPS rescue
In the United States Congress, the Republicans and Democrats are as divided as ever over how to rescue the US Postal Service from its massive financial problems. This week saw Republicans, who hold the majority in the House of Representatives, marking up a bill pushing their agenda, while stating their hope for Democrats to work with them to agree bipartisan legislation. The Republicans then rejected all Democrat attempts to amend their bill.
In the House, the Republicans want to set up control boards to take over management of the Postal Service in order to force cutbacks – breaking union agreements where needed. The Republican bill, the Postal Reform Act, also seeks to eliminate Saturday deliveries, raise postal rates on loss-making postal services and require USPS employees to pay the same for healthcare and life insurance as other federal workers. The bill does not offer any restructuring of USPS pension and benefit systems – a key demand of the Democrats.
Today, the same Republican bill was introduced by Republican Senator John McCain into the Senate, where not only do Democrats hold the majority, but a number of key Republicans want to see reforms to pension and healthcare arrangements and the keeping of Saturday deliveries.
Brazil’s postal strike continues
Meanwhile in Brazil, one of the strongest growth economies at the moment, the national Post is using the dire situation at the US Postal Service as a warning for postal unions currently seeking considerably higher wages for two thirds of the Post and Telegraph Company (ECT) work force.
As a result, a nationwide strike is continuing from last week, affecting anything from a fifth to 40% of ECT postal workers depending on who is making the estimate. Today, the national postal union, Fentect, rejected the latest offer of a 6.89% pay rise, stating that the strike will continue indefinitely.
FedEx Express volumes fall off more than expected
FedEx revealed disappointing results in its first quarter within its FedEx Express division, although good results in its Ground and Freight units.
The stock market caught on to its warnings about the slowing global warning, but FedEx executives explained that the situation should improve later this year, despite expectations of sluggish growth in Express volumes, mainly related to the state of the electronics sector in Asia.
Mutual Post Office will protect branches from closure, says UK minister
The UK’s postal affairs minister applauded the merits of a Post Office Ltd network owned by local communities and post office employees, as he launched a consultation on the proposal.
As Ed Davey spoke at the Liberal Democrats’ annual conference in Birmingham, he also stated his intent to push for more local authorities to make use of post office counters in offering their services to the public.
And finally…
Could delivery staff soon become the front line in providing customer service, as well as deliveries, for e-commerce shoppers? DPD Ireland and mobile technology specialist Blackbay are working on a system that allows drivers dropping off packages for consumers to ask a quick question about whether those consumers might be open to buying an accessory for their purchase…
