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Connect with friends and loved ones through the US Mail for free

Posted by | Mar 13, 2008 | |

A card in the mail is like an unexpected visit from a friend, a way to connect with absent loved ones that stands out among the digital clutter of voicemails and emails. Thanks to the United States Postal Service and HBO, Americans can rekindle the power of the written word with a greeting card to send a heartfelt, handwritten message to someone special — free of charge.

For National Card and Letter Writing Month, the Postal Service is encouraging Americans to log onto poweroftheletter.com and order a greeting card. The card will be sent with a stamped envelope enclosed. Both the card and the stamped envelope are sent at no cost. Drop the mobile phone and PDA for just a minute and pick up a pen instead of sending an email or text message. The message you send via the US Mail can be saved for years or even centuries and not deleted with a simple keystroke.

“Letters and cards are personal, you can hold them, you can read them over and over again, and keep them forever — these are things that email and text messaging cannot replace,” said Anita Bizzotto, chief marketing officer for the Postal Service. “National Card and Letter Writing Month pays tribute to the power of the written word and promotes the emotional and historical value of the mail.”

The Postal Service and HBO created the “Power of the Letter” campaign to promote handwritten correspondence, educate all on the historical significance of this type of communication, and reintroduce John Adams, one of our founding fathers who was a prolific writer. He and his wife Abigail exchanged over 1,100 letters during the course of their courtship and marriage. The letters, held by the Massachusetts Historical Society, were a crucial resource for historian David McCullough, whose Pulitzer Prize-winning biography John Adams is the foundation for the HBO miniseries of the same name premiering on March 16.

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Deutsche Post workers threaten strike action

Posted by | Mar 13, 2008 | |

German postal workers could begin industrial action an April 1st warned the services union Verdi.de.

Workers at Deutsche Post are unhappy about working hours and dismissals and have threatened to strike unless the company takes steps to address what they see as ongoing problems inside Germany’s key postal operator.

A recent move by the coalition government to set a minimum wage for postal workers in Germany was challenged by rivals including Dutch operator TNT, and ruled unlawful by a German court.

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UK postal competition creates 3300 new jobs in the UK

Posted by | Mar 12, 2008 | |

In the past four years, competition in the UK postal market has created 3300 new jobs, according to an independent study by Europe Economics and commissioned by TNT Post. The research found the economic benefit to the UK economy is at least GBP 229 million and could be considerably more by 2016 with an extra 6600 jobs created and an additional GBP 405 million into the UK economy.

One of the key findings of the report found that although there are now 18 licensed competitors to Royal Mail in the UK, it continues to deliver the last mile for 99.8 per cent of mail. Competition has been stifled by the Royal Mail VAT advantage, where 40 per cent of UK business mail remains out of the reach of its competitors.

The report also found that these benefits could have been much greater and earlier if end to end competition and modernisation of the Royal Mail had been quicker.

David Stubbs, Europe Economics, said:

“Royal Mail has been a key beneficiary of competition to date. Prior to the deregulation of the UK postal market, its pace of innovation and reform was slow relative to that in other postal markets. Royal Mail is facing up to its future and starting to address the challenges of its customers who are looking at new ways to communicate or advertise their products.”

Nick Wells, CEO TNT Post UK, said:

“This research proves that postal competition in the UK is good. It is good for business. It is good for the UK tax payer. It is good for Royal Mail. We want to create jobs, we want to innovate, we want to deliver for our customers but we are being held back by the Royal Mail VAT advantage. It has to go.”

The research study also found that competition has allowed customers to benefit from innovative services introduced by competitors.

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GCC postal heads back proposal for world meet

Posted by | Mar 12, 2008 | |

The heads of postal corporations of the GCC States have backed Qatar in its efforts to host the Universal Postal Union’s World Postal Congress in 2012.
At a meeting held at the Q-Post head office yesterday, they also agreed to intensify their efforts to launch a logistics company, to be maintained and operated by the region’s postal corporations.

The countries have also agreed to participate in the world exhibition of stamps to be held as part of the UPU’s next World Postal Congress, scheduled for the last week of July in the Romanian capital of Bucharest.

The meeting also urged the Qatar Philately and Numismatic Club to strive for a Gulf Philately Union, with a world character. The Emirates Post made a proposal to jointly raise the issue of terminal use at the next WPC.

It pointed out that the latest move of the UPU to put GCC States in different postal zones would adversely affect the revenues of the postal corporations. Earlier Q-Post chairman Ali Mohamed al-Ali declared the meeting open.

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