Author: Archive

Unreasonable offer by Canada Post prompts strike vote

Posted by | Sep 2, 2008 | |

Canada Post Corporation has taken an unreasonable approach to bargaining during the late stages of negotiations and employees will take a strike vote over the coming weeks to protect their rights.

The negotiations started in the spring of 2008, and the union says the employer is refusing to address the workers’ demands.

The main issues at the bargaining table continue to be: protections
against unreasonable measurements and surveillance of individual employees,
workload-management issues, a fair benefits package, fair wages and bargaining
unit protection. Canada Post has previously negotiated similar settlements
with other unions.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) bargaining team tabled a thoughtful and comprehensive offer of settlement last week, but Canada Post remains reluctant to commit to any proposal of substance.

The union will not agree to concessions for its members and says only a
substantial improvement in Canada Post’s offer could prevent a strike.

The collective agreement between UPCE/PSAC and Canada Post expired on
August 31, 2008. The union served the employer a notice to bargain on May 1,
2008, and the negotiations began on June 4, 2008.

Read More

Poll results confirm large majority opposes postal deregulation

Posted by | Sep 2, 2008 | |

A new Ipsos Reid poll shows 69 per cent of the public oppose allowing private companies to deliver letters in Canada. The release of this poll coincides with the final ay for submissions to the Canada Post Corporation Strategic Review, a government-appointed panel which is considering postal deregulation.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) delivered its submission, which includes the poll results, and over 10,000 post cards to the review’s advisory panel today.

The poll CUPW commissioned shows that 46 per cent strongly oppose and 23 per cent of people somewhat oppose allowing private companies to deliver letters in Canada. Conversely, 9 per cent of people strongly support and 18 per cent of people somewhat support allowing private sector competition.

The public isn’t alone in their opposition to postal deregulation. Close to 400 municipal councils from across the country have also passed resolutions against postal deregulation.

The strategic review panel will release a final report with recommendations in December.
The survey was conducted from August 12-14, 2008.

Read More

Austrian Post Acquires Hungarian Company: Cont Media

Posted by | Sep 2, 2008 | |

Austrian Post acquired a 100 pct shareholding in the Hungarian company Cont Media Hungary kft. The closing took place on September 1, 2008. In 2005, Austrian Post had already acquired feibra Hungary, the leader on the Hungarian market for unaddressed direct mail. The Austrian Post Group has now also taken over Cont Media, the second largest company in this market segment. As a result of the acquisition of Cont Media, Austrian Post now has a nationwide logistics network for distributing advertising brochures on the important Hungarian market. On balance, feibra and Cont Media jointly have a market share of slightly 60 pct.

Read More

Deutsche Post may call off Postbank sale

Posted by | Sep 2, 2008 | |

Deutsche Post AG may decide to call off a sale of Deutsche Postbank AG at a supervisory board meeting on Sept. 12, Handelsblatt reported, without saying where it got the information.

A previously targeted price for the Bonn-based bank of 10 billion euros (USD 14.6 billion) is now unrealistic, according to the German business newspaper. Deutsche Post has become more skeptical about a sale because of the drop in the valuation of banks, it added.

Bonn-based Deutsche Post, Europe’s biggest mail carrier, owns 50 percent plus one share of Postbank, which has a market value of about 7.3 billion euros.

Read More

FedEx Express to deliver broadest next-business-day service from Europe to the Eastern United States

Posted by | Sep 2, 2008 | |

FedEx Express has upgraded its next-business-day delivery service FedEx International Priority from Europe to major U.S. East Coast cities. Customers who had two-business-day service can now reach more than 3,500 zip codes in key markets along the U.S. East Coast overnight. Customers already enjoying next-business-day delivery service to this region benefit from later pick-up times of up to six hours.

To support the service upgrade, FedEx will launch a new westbound trans-Atlantic flight and fly a wide-body MD-11 freighter daily, Tuesday through Friday, between Paris, Charles de Gaulle Airport and Newark, N.J. The Europe-to-U.S. flight segment comprises part of the FedEx westbound ‘around-the-world’ flight, which enables FedEx to provide customers with access to key markets around the world with highly competitive transit times. The company will also introduce two new Airbus A310 flights, including flights originating from Barcelona and Budapest-Vienna, to offer customers in these areas later pick-up times for enhanced next-business-day service to the U.S.

Read More

USPS extends early-out offers to letter carriers

Posted by | Sep 2, 2008 | |

The U.S. Postal Service has extended early retirement offers to letter carriers as part of an expanded early-out offer that now covers 156,000 employees.

Rural and city carriers are included in a new group of employees eligible for voluntary early retirements. Other employees in this group are postmasters, field-level supervisors, maintenance workers and motor vehicle mechanics.

In the past month, USPS announced early-out offers to two other groups of employees as part of a larger effort to reduce and restructure its work force. The first covers about 72,000 mail handlers, clerks, distribution operations supervisors and customer service supervisors. The second group includes 3,200 headquarters employees.
With this latest round, approved late last week by the Office of Personnel Management, the Postal Service has extended offers to virtually all occupations within the Postal Service, said Anthony Vegliante, the agency’s chief human resources officer.

Vegliante said it’s the first time since 1992 that the Postal Service has offered early retirements to letter carriers, who comprise the bulk of the agency’s 670,000 employees.
The offers apply to employees who are at least 50 years old with at least 20 years of service, or those with 25 years of service regardless of age. No financial incentives nor bonuses will be paid to employees who decide to retire.

Read More

Royal Mail privatisation likely (UK)

Posted by | Sep 1, 2008 | |

The Communication Workers Union says that Royal Mail should be a public service first and a business second, is not keen on the idea of privatisation and has accused the government of allowing the service to be run down to push through privatisation plans. The postal regulator, Postcomm, denies this, saying that it has been a greater than expected take-up of electronic communications such as email that has eroded Royal Mail’s business and that without private capital, Royal Mail’s future is grim. Adam Crozier, Chief Executive at Royal Mail, said that Royal Mail was not against the idea of partnerships that would introduce private capital.

It is unclear in what form private investment would be, but it would require a splitting up of Royal Mail to encourage investors, with Parcelforce probably the most lucrative part of Royal Mail. Postcomm is keen to see an arrangement that would provide a sustainable source of funding for the USO rather than leaving the country to pick up the cost.

The EU says that each country can effectively make its own arrangements for the USO providing it complies with EU rules. If Royal Mail were privatised but the pension deficit offloaded to the entire country as well as the funding for the USO, deregulation would be a complete disaster, so Postcomm will be keen to see that any investment will underpin the USO.

In all probability, large chunks of Royal Mail’s business will be privatised over the next ten years and with no one really certain as to just how low the decline in mail business is likely to drop, private capital is unlikely to be worth as much to Royal Mail as it is now. A report into the state of the UK’s postal service expected in October will almost certainly underline the urgency of a sell-off.

Read More

Integrators change course as clients go for ocean transport

Posted by | Sep 1, 2008 | |

This summer, FedEx opened two new gateways on the US West Coast for traffic entering its home market from Asia by ocean vessel. The integrator’s trade networks unit created gateway offices at the ports of Seattle and Oakland for traffic that moves in consolidations to the US and after breakdown is fed into the domestic FedEx network.

The focus on waterborne traffic is indicative not only of the weakness of the US economy and the impact of high oil prices on supply chain costs and strategies, it also shows a change in strategic thinking at FedEx.

Fred Smith said that FedEx was reviewing its strategy in order to position itself better to deal with an expected change in the way how its clientele was doing business. He outlined a new situation, where reliance on aircraft for shorter hauls is diminishing further. Increasingly, customers are cutting back on premium services.

The integrators remain bullish about their international express package business, particularly in Asia. FedEx and UPS are due to open their new Asian hubs in Guangzhou and Shanghai respectively this year.

Elsewhere in Asia, UPS bought out Korea Express’s share in their joint venture to assume full control of its express business in Korea.

According to some unconfirmed reports, FedEx is about to take a giant leap to boost its strength in the market, particularly on intra-European and Asia-Europe trade lanes. The integrator is allegedly seeking to acquire TNT. Both sides declined to comment on what they described as “speculation”.

Read More

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

P&P Poll

Loading

How ready do you feel for the de minimis changes coming in July?

Thank you for voting
You have already voted on this poll!
Please select an option!




View ResultsHide Results

Post & Parcel Magazine


Post & Parcel Magazine is our print publication, released 3 times a year. Packed with original content and thought-provoking features, Post & Parcel Magazine is a must-read for those who want the inside track on the industry.

Subscribe to the Magazine

 

Pin It on Pinterest