Year: 2007

TTPost gripped by protests

Posted by | Dec 21, 2007 | |

Workers at TTPost offices throughout the country staged a second day of protest action yesterday to highlight their dissatisfaction with the TTPostal Corporation over salary negotiations for the period 2005/2007.

According to the Trinidad and Tobago Postal Workers’ Union (TTPWU) General Secretary Reginald Crichlow, the majority of workers heeded the union’s call and stayed off the job.

“The workers took similar action on Wednesday with almost 70 percent to 80 percent of workers not reporting for duty” said Crichlow.

He added that many post offices including those at Curepe, Laventille, San Juan, Morvant, Arima, Maloney, La Romain and Couva remained with skeletal staff yesterday. Questioned as to the impact of the action, Crichlow said that “if there was a high percentage of officers absent, then there will be a negative impact on the delivery of mail.”

The workers are disgruntled with the salary increases being offered by the Corporation. Crichlow explained that the official negotiating period is 2005/2007.

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Restriction for postal licenses lifted

Posted by | Dec 20, 2007 | |

Kurth: “The formal foundations for further competition have been laid”

On 31 December 2007 the monopoly of Deutsche Post AG for letters with a maximum weight of 50g comes to an end. In a general order published in its Official Gazette on 19 December 2007, the Federal Network Agency has therefore lifted all material restrictions of the licences, such as the obligation to provide higher quality for letters weighing less than 50g. From 1 January 2008 all licensees – including Deutsche Post AG – can then offer all mail services in their license areas and are free to decide about the configuration of their services at their own discretion.

“With this general order we are laying the formal foundations for further competition in the postal market, without much bureaucratic effort. This will prepare the way for creative business models and flexible solutions. A realistic analysis and assessment reveals that the liberalisation of this market definitely offers opportunities for a further development of competition – despite the controversial debates of recent weeks,” emphasised the president of the Federal Network Agency, Matthias Kurth.

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Upper house of German parliament approves postal minimum wages

Posted by | Dec 20, 2007 | |

The upper house of Germany’s parliament has approved the introduction of minimum wages to the postal industry, a move the lower house and the cabinet have already approved.

Minimum wages of 8-9.80 eur per hour, as agreed by services union ver.di and an employer’s association dominated by incumbent Deutsche Post World Net AG, are now mandatory at Deutsche Post’s competitors.

Axel Springer AG decided to write down the value of mail services unit Pin Group by up to 620 mln eur after the lower house of parliament approved a minimum wage and after financing talks with its other owner failed.

The German states are represented in the upper house of German parliament.

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1000th fee-free ATM for Post Office UK

Posted by | Dec 20, 2007 | |

The Post Office has installed its 1000th free-to-use automated teller machine (ATM) at a Rotherham Post Office branch further cementing its commitment to be a universal provider of free cash access for its customers.

Customers have already withdrawn GBP 1.2 billion from Post Office fee-free ATMs across the UK this year in 20 million transactions and have potentially saved up to a huge GBP 21million in fees levied by charging ATMs.

The new ATM was installed in Thurnscoe East Post Office in Rotherham.

The Post Office and its financial services partner, Bank of Ireland, are committed to rolling out more free-to-use ATMs across the branch network. At the same time the Post Office is withdrawing from its involvement with third party fee-charging ATM suppliers.

Ian Sadler, head of banking & payments, Post Office Ltd, said: “It’s great news that customers of 1000 UK Post Office branches can now benefit from free access to their money using cash machines. This complements the free cash access service for 19 banks and building societies we offer over the counter at all UK Post Office branches.”

“More than one million free cash withdrawals are made every day at the Post Office, making us the largest, free-to-use cash network in the UK.”

Mr Surti, subpostmaster at Thurnscoe East branch, said he has seen a dramatic rise in the number of people visiting the branch because of his new cash machine.

ATM transactions have increased from 105-140 per week to 1600-1700 per week as a result of the new ATM.

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Initiate Systems Teams with Pitney Bowes Group 1 Software

Posted by | Dec 20, 2007 | |

Initiate Systems, Inc., and Group 1 Software, Inc., a Pitney Bowes company, today announced a strategic alliance to jointly market a master data management (MDM) solution. This solution will comprise the Initiate Master Data Service™ Platform for accurate matching and linking of data and Pitney Bowes’ Group 1 customer data quality (CDQ) platform with third party reference data for up-to-date names, addresses and other data.

The combined solution improves the overall value of customer data integration (CDI) and MDM initiatives. Initiate identifies all of the data entities and builds a comprehensive view of the data associated with those entities, while Pitney Bowes helps ensure the address data attributes associated with those entities are correct and up-to-date. This single, accurate, enterprise-wide view of the customer will help companies make better business decisions, strengthen customer relationships and improve the bottom line.

“Combining Pitney Bowes Group 1 Software’s CDQ platform and Initiate Systems’ high-performance, matching and linking software will provide a complete, end-to-end MDM solution for companies seeking to sharpen their business decisions and deepen their customer relationships,” said Christopher Baker, president of Pitney Bowes Group 1 Software. “Improving data quality, integration and management across the enterprise can have an immediate impact on the bottom line.”

Initiate Systems’ President and CEO Bill Conroy said interoperability between the Initiate Master Data Service integration platform and Pitney Bowes’ Group 1 Software CDQ data platform can accelerate the deployment of an integrated MDM solution and the realization of business value from such a project.

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USPS updates its Transformation Plan to reflect new law and new technologies

Posted by | Dec 20, 2007 | |

The Strategic Transformation Plan 2006-2010, the Postal Service roadmap for the future, has been updated to reflect changes from last year’s passage of the Postal Act of 2006. The law makes a number of changes to postal oversight and regulation, but does not alter the Postal Service’s mission – providing trusted, affordable and universal service. Among the opportunities is new flexibility to customize products and prices to meet customer needs. The Postal Service now also has the ability to retain earnings and invest profits back into the business. New challenges include the Consumer Price Index-based price cap for mailing services such as First-Class Mail and Standard Mail. The update notes that cost-control strategies will be expanded beyond the aggressive efforts taken so far. The Postal Service will continue to reduce costs by at least USD 1 billion every year by expanding standardization and automation. This effort will be given a boost in the coming year as the Postal Service begins deployment of its new Flats Sequencing System. Known as FSS, this new equipment automatically sorts flat-shaped mail in the order in which it will be delivered. The update also describes how technology is being applied to add customer value. Most significant is the Postal Service’s rapid expansion of Intelligent Mail, which uses new barcodes and systems to provide end-to-end visibility of mail. Intelligent Mail will also enable an expanded service measurement. The system will be developed and tested in 2008 in tandem with implementation of modern service standards for all mailing services.

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New Royal Mail postage prices for April 2008

Posted by | Dec 20, 2007 | |

Royal Mail said today the price of a First Class stamp for a standard letter weighing up to 100g would rise 2p to 36p from April 7 2008 in line with the price controls set by the regulator, Postcomm, in 2006.

A Second Class stamp for a standard letter weighing up to 100g will rise 3p from 24p to 27p.

When the new prices take effect, Royal Mail’s stamps will still be among the very lowest priced in Europe. The average household now spends 50p a week on stamps, a fraction of the amount spent on telecoms.

Stamped mail makes an average loss of around 6p per letter and packet – and it will continue to be loss-making as the increases will not be sufficient to cover the deficit. The total loss last year on stamped mail was GBP 178 million.

Business customers who use franking machines will continue to get a discount against the price of a stamp. A franked, standard First Class letter will increase by 2p from 32p to 34p in April, while a standard Second Class franked letter will rise 2p from 22p to 24p, increasing the discount for Second Class franked mail discount from 2p to 3p.

For the first time, medium-sized businesses will get discounts on volume – the more they post, the lower the postage bill.

The full details of new prices are published on Royal Mail’s web site. Prices for bulk mail will also be changing, and in some cases will fall in real terms. Some prices for heavier weight items will also be falling to improve Royal Mail’s competitiveness in the growing home-shopping market.

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DMA calls for caution over postal review

Posted by | Dec 20, 2007 | |

The DMA has warned the government not to place an “unrealistic burden” on businesses to fund a universal postal service when it publishes its review next year.

Secretary of state for business John Hutton announced the review on 17 December, outlining the government’s commitment to maintain the universal service while investigating the impact of opening the postal market to competition two years ago.

Royal Mail has introduced a range of proposals, such as pricing in proportion and zonal pricing, to help it compete more effectively in the new open market.

It has argued that its competitors have been able to cherry-pick the higher margin business sectors, while it has been hobbled with maintaining an affordable universal service for consumers and providing the final-mile delivery.

However, many of these new ideas impact more heavily on users of business mail, such as the direct marketing industry.

Walsh said he wasn’t sure how the DMA would be involved in the review, although it is a member of the Postwatch trade association forum.

However, he stressed that it is important that business users get involved, noting that the consultation would not include any direct representatives of large mail users.

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