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Postal workers have voted to hold their first nationwide strike in more than a decade.

Posted by | Jun 8, 2007 | |

Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) yesterday voted almost four to one in favour of industrial action over pay.

The Royal Mail has offered a 2.5% pay rise, while the CWU is holding out for a 4.8% increase.

A series of walkouts will now be held by up to 130,000 CWU members unless a compromise is reached.

CWU deputy general secretary, Dave Ward, said: “This yes vote shows clearly that Royal Mail workers have rejected the company’s business plan, the company’s leadership and the unacceptable pay offer.

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France's Mondial Relay joins Hermes' European parcel network

Posted by | Jun 8, 2007 | |

German parcels company, Hermes Logistik, has further strengthened its growing European network by forming a partnership with France’s Mondial Relay for deliveries and collections in France, Germany and Austria.

Home delivery specialist Mondial, like Hermes a subsidiary of Europe’s largest mail-order business, the Otto Group, says it will also be expanding its consumer service through Relai pick-up points in four new countries – Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain – and hopes to have opened over 20,000 such points in the seven countries (including France) by the end of this year.

The expansion will see Mondial’s parcels volumes grow by about 20% in two years from the 34 million handled in 2006, the company said in a release.

According to an article in the Handelsblatt newspaper this week, Otto is working towards a single brand European B2C parcels network led by Hermes, with the aim of boosting the German subsidiary’s turnover to between EUR 1.5 billion and 1.8 billion from the current EUR 1 billion.

The network is designed to cash in on the Internet home delivery boom in major markets such as Germany, France and the UK. Parcelnet, the UK home delivery company owned by the Otto Group, announced two months ago that it also was expanding by buying the Redcats courier network in the UK.

Hermes, which grew by 11.5% in 2006, is moving into the Austrian market this summer. It now has 13,500 distribution points in Germany and a further 1,200 lined up for Austria.

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La Poste in agreement over night shift pay dispute

Posted by | Jun 8, 2007 | |

France’s La Poste has come to a EUR 3 million agreement with unions over a night shift pay dispute that saw sorting centres disrupted earlier this year.

The national postal operator has hammered out a nationwide deal with five trade unions to provide EUR 2.2 million in extra pay for the night services (from midnight till 6 am) and EUR 800,000 in local supplements.

The French group has also begun training its post drivers to cut down CO2 emissions by 10,000 tonnes per year.

Ten trainers are travelling France to teach the 10,000 postmen and women how to cut down emissions by simple driving techniques, helped by electronic boxes that can now monitor economic petrol consumption in towns and rural areas

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New logo, service of Pakistan Post launched

Posted by | Jun 8, 2007 | |

Pakistan Post has approached banks and other financial institutions involved in micro finance credit to persuade them to make use for infrastructure for easy access to people in remote and far-flung areas.

This was stated by the Chairman Pakistan Post, Arshad Khan on Thursday at the launching of a new service, collection of PTCL and SNGPL utility bills from doorstep of the consumers, and also unveiled the new vision and corporate logo to make the organisation efficient, customer friendly, modern and sustainable.

He said that proposal to let the banks use post office outlets was discussed with the Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz and Governor State Bank Dr Shamshad Akhtar. Now the negotiations are being held with banks and their response was very encouraging because the Pakistan Post offers them (infrastructure in rural areas) what they are lacking.

He said that the organisation with 100 percent outreach could best meet the financial institutions needs of micro-finance in the rural areas. Moreover, the Pakistan Post would establish tele-centres soon at all its outlets to offer its consumers all the latest facilities at one point. Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Communications Shamim Siddiqui expressed the hope that the new logo of Pakistan Post would become the country’s recognition. He asked the management of the organisation to also focus on offering other services ie starting express mail, as saving their survival was not possible during days ahead by relying on traditional service of dealing with the mail.

The minister said that he wanted the post office to enhance its bill collections to 50 percent, which is 22 percent now. Earlier, the minister launched the first service under the new vision of Pakistan Post namely “collection of utility bills payments from consumer doorstep”.

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Hermes Logistik – Mondial Relay partnership

Posted by | Jun 8, 2007 | |

German parcels company, Hermes Logistik, has further strengthened its growing European network by forming a partnership with France’s Mondial Relay for deliveries and collections in France, Germany and Austria.

Home delivery specialist Mondial says it will also be expanding its consumer service through Relai pick-up points in four new countries – Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain – and hopes to have opened over 20,000 such points in the seven countries (including France) by the end of this year.

The expansion will see Mondial’s parcels volumes grow by about 20% in two years from the 34 million handled in 2006, the company said in a release.

The network is designed to cash in on the Internet home delivery boom in major markets such as Germany, France and the UK. Parcelnet, the UK home delivery company owned by the Otto Group, announced two months ago that it also was expanding by buying the Redcats courier network in the UK.

Hermes, which grew by 11.5% in 2006, is moving into the Austrian market this summer. It now has 13,500 distribution points in Germany and a further 1,200 lined up for Austria.

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USPS begins slim jim catalog testing

Posted by | Jun 8, 2007 | |

The U.S. Postal Service last month began testing to develop better standards for letter-size booklets, also known as “slim jim” catalogs, simultaneously cautioning catalogers who may be considering switching to this format that the mailing standards for these pieces are likely to change.

As more catalogers may switch to the lower-priced format in light of the current rate increase, the agency is concerned that printers will need more precise mailing standards to avoid fabricating slim jims that would jam the agency’s delivery bar code sorters.

Slim jims measure up to 6.125 inches by 11.5 inches. The USPS considers them folded self-mailers and booklets. If they weigh 3 ounces or less and are tabbed, they are the largest size qualifying for letter-rate postage, which is significantly lower than the recently increased Standard Mail flats postage.

The USPS has said there are not many slim jims in the system now and that, when they do appear in USPS facilities, postal employees frequently put them through the more robust AFSM-100 flats sorter as opposed to the delivery bar code sorters, which handle letter mail. However, to get the lower rates, they will have to be able to go through the delivery bar code sorter machine.

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DHL takes steps to meet increased logistics demand in Japan

Posted by | Jun 8, 2007 | |

DHL held an inauguration ceremony heralding the expansion of its expanded facility at the Kansai International Airport.

The USD 41 million investment into the DHL Kansai International Airport Gateway, which is located at the International Cargo Warehouse C is comprised of 10,100 square meters, and is the largest facility operated by an international express company at the airport, according to DHL.

The new facility, said DHL, is five times bigger than its previous facility, and will help the company to better handle cargo volume increases and weight handled by the company in Kansai. It includes state-of-the-art customs clearance and bonded warehouse facilities, and DHL expects it to spur international trade, as well as the air express and logistics industry in Kansai. It added that it expects the new facility to enhance efficiency and speed in cargo processing, providing customers with better time-to-market capabilities.

And Air Hong Kong, DHL’s joint venture with Cathay Pacific, currently operates a ten-time weekly dedicated service to the Kansai International Airport to and from DHL’s Central Asia Hub in Hong Kong. In Japan, DHL also utilizes close to 100 commercial flights daily.

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