Tag: Asia

Sri Lankan government urged to solve postal employees' problems

Posted by | Mar 27, 2007 | |

Lanka Postal Union President Vivekanandalingam said the government’s mediation is essential to settle the Postal Department employees’ problems.

Vivekanandalingam addressing the media at the Sri Lanka Postal Union Office said all Department employees would go on sick leave today (27) demanding the authorities to modify and introduce new postal systems without reducing their service period and benefits.

He said the Department which is running at a loss cannot be converted into a profitable organisation by cutting down employees’ benefits and working hours. He said it could be achieved only by introducing new methods in the Postal Department suitable to postal sector.

He said thirteen trade unions would join in the agitation. “No action has been taken to uplift the Postal Department though the Department is running at a loss.

“The Treasury says that by cutting down the facilities and service of the employees and by reducing the working hours the Department could be converted into a profitable institution.

“However, several projects started to uplift the Postal Department ended in failure,” he observed.

Postal and Telecommunication Officials Union President H.M. Navaratna Bandara stressed the postal service was a people’s service and that they were striving to protect the service on behalf of the public.

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DHL Japan vehicle fleet fuel-cell verification tests feature in DaimlerChrysler Japan report

Posted by | Mar 26, 2007 | |

DHL has participated in a study on fleet-run verification tests of the F-cell, a fuel-cell vehicle from DaimlerChrysler AG. DHL Japan has been using the F-cell for delivery and pick-up operations since July 2006, as part of DHL’s Green Logistics environmental initiative in Japan. Initial results of the study were presented by DaimlerChrysler Japan Co., Ltd. (DCJ), at the 2007 JHFC Workshop on Monday 12 March 2007.

The fleet-run verification tests by DHL Japan and DCJ have been performed in accordance with principles established by the Japan Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Demonstration Project (JHFC Project), which aims to “verify and evaluate a variety of effects regarding the use of fuel-cell vehicles and hydrogen energy through actual use by business”. At the 2007 JHFC Workshop, which was held at Asahi Hall in Yurakucho for the purpose of reporting on JHFC Project activities, a DCJ spokesperson presented initial results of the fleet-run verification, including data on mileage and hydrogen consumption since July 2006, a video showing the F-cell being used by DHL for pick-up and delivery services, and feedback from DHL drivers, who praised the vehicle’s high accelerating performance, quietness and eco-friendly non-gas emissions.

DHL’s position in global logistics also means recognizing the impact of its activities on the environment and working to reduce the environmental costs of operations. In July 2006, DHL launched its new environmental initiative, Green Logistics, in Japan. The F-cell, which was introduced for DHL Japan’s pickup and delivery services as the first phase of this initiative, is the world’s first mass-produced fuel-cell car.

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Postal employees plan strike from April 24

Posted by | Mar 26, 2007 | |

The Joint Action Council (JAC) of recognised postal employees organisations has decided to call for an indefinite strike from April 24 to press its demands.

Talking to reporters here on Sunday, K. Raghavendran, national working president of the All-India Postal Employees Union P3 and V. Parthiban, Tamil Nadu circle secretary, said the demands included the constitution of a judicial committee to go into the working conditions and demands of the Gramin Dak Sevaks or rural postal employees and dropping of the move to close down post offices and privatise and out-source services.

Mr. Raghavendran said the Centre had announced the closure of 40 out of the 48 Railway Mail Service offices in Tamil Nadu. Only three in Chennai and five in the rest of the State would be retained. Under a new norm, those RMS offices handling less than 10,000 letters a day were to be closed down. This move, he claimed, would render many employees surplus, besides imposing a heavy workload on the staff members. Furthermore, the Centre had issued orders for opening 100 private post offices on a franchisee basis.

The JAC also opposed the Planning Commission’s announcement that no subsidy would be given to the Postal Department in the main budget from April 1, 2008.

Mr. Raghavendran alleged that the Centre was trying to project the department as loss-making on the grounds that the pension, amounting to Rs.1, 200 crore, was being paid from the department’s earnings, and that the department was, therefore, justified in closing down post offices to cut the expenditure.

While the pension for all other Central Government employees, including railway employees, was being paid from the Government’s Consolidated Fund, it was only in the case of the Postal Department that the pension was being drawn from the department fund. If the postal pensioners were also paid from the Consolidated Fund, the department could save Rs.1, 200 crore every year.

While on the one hand, the Government was saying that the Postal Department should stand on its own, on the other it was opening private post offices.

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Japan post offices to accept dispatched workers

Posted by | Mar 24, 2007 | |

Japan Post will start hiring workers dispatched from employment agencies at its post offices to cover labor shortages to be caused by mass retirement at the end of this month, Jiji Press learned Saturday.

Specifically, Japan Post will hire some 20 dispatched workers at 20 post offices in Kanagawa, Osaka and Hyogo Prefectures in April, informed sources said. The workers will be in charge of postal savings services.

Post offices currently employ part-time workers, but not dispatched workers, because labor costs for dispatched workers are generally higher than those for part-timers.

Japan Post will see 12,400 full-time workers, or some 5 pct of the total, retire on March 31, while only 6,400 workers will be added in April. As of April 1, Japan Post will be short of about 10,000 workers, four times the level of labor shortages a year before.

The state-owned Japan Post will be split up into four firms, including a “Yucho” bank and a “Kampo” insurance firm, under a 10-year privatization process that begins on Oct. 1. A network of post offices across Japan will be managed by one of the four companies to be created through the breakup.

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Japan Post to offer mortgages, credit cards

Posted by | Mar 21, 2007 | |

Japan Post said on Tuesday it was planning to offer mortgages, credit cards and small business loans following its privatisation in October this year, in a move that would introduce a massive competitor to private Japanese banks in areas they consider vital to their growth.
The post office is currently restricted to taking deposits and making limited loans. But its total deposits of Y189,314bn (USD1,616bn, EUR1,215bn, GBP832bn) mean that it will become the world’s largest bank by assets once privatised, overtaking Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ, which has deposits of Y115,600bn.

Japan Post’s future ambitions depend on which sectors it will be allowed to enter by the ministry of internal affairs and communications and a government committee entrusted with postal privatisation.

The plans to enter personal finance businesses comes as Japan Post has suffered a slow but steady decline in depositors in the country’s persistently low interest rate environment. Its deposits topped Y200,000bn as recently as last year.

Offering mortgages would be an efficient way for Japan Post to build up its banking operations, as borrowers tend to use their mortgage provider as their main bank.

Although mortgage interest rates are low, at about 3 per cent for a 35-year fixed-rate loan, they are good quality credit as default rates remain very low in Japan, says one banker.

Personal loans and small business loans, which offer banks higher interest, are also considered promising growth areas for banks.

What business Japan Post enters after privatisation is a sensitive topic as many banks are wary of the impact that entry by the world’s largest bank could have on already fiercely competitive markets.

Japanese banks are keen to expand fee and income businesses, as their traditional corporate lending business is expected to remain sluggish.

Japan Post is already a large seller of investment trusts, which is another business banks are keen to expand as the retirement of baby-boomers is boosting demand for investment products. Last year, net sales of investment trusts by post offices reached Y561.6bn.

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