Tag: Domestic

Californian Supreme Court denies FedEx appeal on drivers

Posted by | Nov 28, 2007 | |

California’s Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to hear an appeal by FedEx Corp, which sought to overturn a state court ruling that said the company’s drivers are employees, not independent contractors.

The lawsuit, Estrada vs. FedEx Ground Package System Inc., involves 200 people who worked under contracts struck by FedEx’s predecessor company.

It will be sent back to the state trial court for rulings on drivers’ expense reimbursements and fees for plaintiff’s attorneys, FedEx spokesman Maury Lane said.

A series of similar lawsuits from more than 30 states was recently granted class action status by a court in Indiana.

Those lawsuits also claim the control FedEx exercises over its contractors makes them employees, eligible for benefits.

FedEx has argued the contractors are entrepreneurs, not employees.

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Post Office (UK) confirms branch closure decision making approach

Posted by | Nov 28, 2007 | |

Post Office Ltd confirmed the approach it will take to finalising decisions regarding branch closures and other changes to existing branches following the Local Public Consultation process which is now underway in some parts of the UK.

During each public consultation significant correspondence is received from stakeholders and information arising from this correspondence is carefully considered against prescribed Government criteria and factors when final decisions are made. Additionally, Post Office Ltd has set up with Postwatch, the consumer body representing customers, a three stage review process for these decisions, with increasing seniority of the respective management teams participating in each stage, culminating in a member of Post Office Ltd’s board and the Postwatch Chair (or their appointed deputy).

Furthermore, after stage 3, Allan Leighton, Chairman of Royal Mail Group, will review any unresolved cases at the request of Postwatch.

Allan Leighton said, “Taking the decision to close any Post Office branch is always exceptionally difficult. I know it will always cause concern to many of our customers. We are absolutely committed to examining the most difficult decisions at the highest level, to make sure that all the information available has been considered and that the criteria set by the Government have been met.”

Pat McFadden, Minister of State for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs, commented, “I welcome this development to Post Office Ltd’s consultation review process. Allan Leighton, as chair of the Royal Mail Group and the most senior voice in the Company, will now act as final arbiter in the case of particularly controversial and contested closure decisions which Post Office and Postwatch cannot resolve bilaterally.

This demonstrates how serious the Company is about the proper handling of what is necessarily a difficult process.”

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DHL USA delivers the spirit of the holiday season to U.S. troops in the Middle East

Posted by | Nov 28, 2007 | |

DHL is partnering with local communities in New York and Southern California to deliver live holiday trees and decorations to U.S. troops stationed in the Middle East through DHL’s annual Trees for Troops charitable program. Since 2004, DHL’s Trees for Troops program has collected and shipped thousands of holiday trees, lights, ornaments, menorahs and messages of support to the brave men and women serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bahrain and Kuwait.

This year, local businesses, organizations, private citizens and nurseries on the east and west coasts of the country will join forces with DHL in donating and delivering 750 trees and holiday decorations overseas. DHL will host official send-off events for this year’s Trees for Troops shipments on December 3rd in New York and on December 7th in Riverside, Calif.

DHL launched its annual Trees for Troops program in December 2004, when Jim Adelis, a New York businessman whose son was stationed in Iraq at the time, reached out to DHL to assist in transporting a shipment of trees to the Middle East. In November and December 2004, with the help of the U.S. Army Reserve 77th Regional Readiness Command, Dee’s Nursery and the local New York metro community, DHL delivered two shipments featuring a total of 135 trees and holiday decorations from JFK to troops stationed at Camp Anaconda in Balad, Iraq.

DHL was the first international air express carrier to provide service to Iraq and Afghanistan following the lifting of sanctions and operates the most extensive logistics service into these countries. DHL announced the start of operations to Afghanistan in March 2002 and Iraq in March 2003.

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UK postal workers back peace deal

Posted by | Nov 27, 2007 | |

Postal workers have overwhelmingly backed a deal on pay and conditions finally ending their long-running dispute.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said its members voted by 64% in favour of an agreement and will now receive a pay rise of 6.9% over two years.
Turnout in the ballot was also 64%. The union said it would now be at the heart of implementing changes to working practices in the Royal Mail, one of the issues at the centre of the bitter dispute.
Postal workers across the country were involved in a long-running campaign of industrial action since the summer, including a number of strikes, which crippled mail deliveries.
Dave Ward, the union’s deputy general secretary, said: “Rather than accept market rate strategy for pay, this deal sets the benchmark for the whole of the postal industry to follow.
“The CWU has always recognised that change is needed in the Royal Mail and this agreement demonstrates that the union is leading the change agenda.
“The strong acceptance of this deal by postal workers shows that they also recognise that change is needed in the business.”

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Make the most of your Christmas post

Posted by | Nov 27, 2007 | |

Every year customers take their time choosing Christmas cards for friends and relatives. They then spend time carefully thinking up messages that carry their love and best wishes.

According to Royal Mail some 400 million Christmas cards are poorly addressed or badly written every year. About 5 million are so badly addressed or just not addressed at all that they cannot be delivered. Many cards are eventually destroyed.

It could also be the case this year that cards and packets are not delivered because the incorrect postage has been used. Although pricing in proportion was in place last December because it was new the Royal Mail adopted a common sense approach to surcharging for underpaid postage and largely waived it. This is the first Christmas when Royal Mail will be surcharging receiving customers for cards and packets failing the pricing in proportion test. Receiving customers might find themselves having to queue, at this busy time of year, at Callers Offices to pay the underpaid postage plus the GBP 1 per item handling fee.

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