Postal Digest – NZ Post, Norway Post, Itella and Swiss Post news
Some more headlines from around the postal world, including news of wage deals in Norway, hybrid mail in Finland and a Swiss Post acquisition…
New Zealand Post seeks to cut delivery frequency
New Zealand Post is considering reducing delivery frequency to as little as three days a week.
A letter from New Zealand Post chairan Michael Cullen to enterprises minister Tony Ryall suggested the need for urgent moves to shore up the universal service in the light of declining mail volumes. Similar proposals were made in 2010 to change the current six-day-a-week service, but were not accepted by the government.
New Zealand Post said any changes would be subject to a full public consultation process, with a discussion paper expected soon. Mail volumes dropped 6.4% in 2011/12 in New Zealand, with Dr Cullen’s letter suggesting the Post can no longer cut enough costs or introduce enough new products to restore a balanced budget.
Norway Post agrees wage deal
Norway Post has agreed new wage settlements for its workers, including deals for its subsidiaries Bring Express and Bring Warehousing.
Lower pay grades will get a NOK 15,000 ($2,620 USD) pay raise, while higher pay grades will get a 2.7% increase. A pilot programme for an alternative salary model for some divisional managers was also agreed. The Postkom union said the deal was a “satisfactory result”.
Dag Mejdell, the Norway Post CEO, said: “I am glad that we are in port with the settlement in much of the Post Office. I can not hide the fact that all new costs we assume are difficult to handle in the tough competitive situation we find ourselves.”
Itella signs bank to hybrid mail service
Finnish bank Aktia Bank has signed a deal to make use of Itella Group’s hybrid mail service for the sending of customer statements.
The company will use Itella Information’s iPost service, electronically transmitting statements to Itella to be printed and physically delivered via the last mile mail network. Itella said it would save money for Aktia in dealing with its customers who do not want to manage their statements online.
Stina Stavén, development manager at Aktia, said: “We outsourced the account statement process to Itella, as we want to focus on our core business competencies.”
Swiss Post transport unit buys bike-share firm
Swiss Post has said its PostBus unit has acquired a bike-share company based in Lausanne, making it the “number one” in the Swiss bike sharing market.
The merger with velopass SARL sees PostBus taking over 11 bicycle self-service networks in more than 20 French-speaking cities in Switzerland and in Ticino, and offers a “solid base” for expansion. Founded in late 2009, velopass has more than 11,000 subscribers and has so far logged more than 254,000 bike rentals.
Swiss Post said users of its existing PubliBike network would be able to make use of the velopass networks using the same membership card.
