Yesterday half of the 5,000 employees of the French post office (La Poste) took part in a strike called by French unions CGT, SUD, FO, CFDT and CFTC. The employees were protesting against the fact that La Poste wants to reduce the number of mail deliveries per day from two to one. This measure is to be introduced in June in the 6th arrondissement of Paris only.
Read MoreA group of Mail Box Etc. franchise owners have filed suit in California state court alleging that United Parcel Service Inc. is violating state franchise laws. Two years ago, UPS bought Mail Boxes Etc. and this year the Atlanta-based shipping company offered franchise holders discounts on shipping services if they would rename their outlets “The UPS Store” and agree to other operating changes. The suit filed April 25 in California Superior Court in Los Angeles alleges that UPS violated the California franchise investment law by failing to properly register the new franchise and provide store operators with a uniform franchise offering. It also alleges that UPS made “earnings claims” about The UPS Store without providing franchisees with the backup and disclosure required by California law.
Read MoreMail, express and logistics company TPG N.V., through Royal TPG Post subsidiary Cendris, has today reached an agreement on the acquisition of DocVision, a subsidiary of Buhrmann N.V. DocVision is a Netherlands-based company that provides a variety of mailroom and reprographic services. This acquisition strengthens Cendris’ leadership position in the field of data and document management in the Netherlands.
Read MoreFrance’s state-owned mail service La Poste made a profit in 2002 but only thanks to its courier and logistics services subsidiary GeoPost
As the new president of the La Poste Group, Jean-Paul Bailly, said when the results for 2002 were presented, the only reason that La Poste did not make a loss was because its courier and logistics arm GeoPost and the latter’s branches in France, Germany and the United Kingdom did especially well. However he was forced to concede that La Poste had generally underperformed and not met its own targets.
Read MoreInterest has waned in Hays’ logistics operations, raising doubts about the likely success of Colin Matthews’ plans to break-up the business services group. Exel, the freight and logistics group, has dropped out of bidding for the division, estimated by analysts to be worth GBP200m-GBP300m when it was put up for sale last month. Rival Tibbett & Britten is also thought unlikely to pursue it. Meanwhile, interested parties said they thought TPG, which is believed to have cast its eye over Hays’ logistics division, was more interested in its mail business, which has yet to be put on the market. Mr Matthews plans to sell off four of Hays’ units – business process outsourcing and mail and express, in addition to logistics and information management – to focus on recruitment. The logistics business will be the first to be sold. Mail and express is expected to be put on the block, possibly next year.
Read MoreEXEL CONTINUES TO GROW ITS HOME DELIVERY ACTIVITIES WITH ARGOS DIRECT
Read MoreDHL Worldwide Express GmbH Deutschland’s management will pay the company’s 2,600 employees two percent more as of 1 May 2003. With this the company is giving a positive and employee-friendly signal to the wage negotiations held since the end of March with the trade union Verdi. The trade union is demanding wage increases totalling five percent, as well as fixing works council positions and releasing works councils from work until 2006 together with a complete and permanent renunciation of dismissals.
Read MoreThis paper concerns with the problems underlying the main business of the Royal Mail Group (“RMG”)— delivery of letter mail — and whether the regulatory regime of the Postal Services Commission (“Postcomm”) is making things better or worse.
P:LIBRARYPostalPenny on the post.doc
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