Tag: Domestic

Communication Workers Union say agreement is subject to ballot

Posted by | Oct 22, 2007 | |

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said the agreement would now be subject to a ballot by its 130,000 members.

It offers staff a 5.4 pct rise in pay and weekday overtime from 1 October, and an extra 1.5 pct pay hike from next April – conditional on reforms being delivered.

Royal Mail said the deal gave it a “fighting chance” of future success.

‘Settling the dispute’

The firm said the agreement – which brings a summer of costly industrial unrest closer to an end – would enable it to proceed with the modernisation of its operations.

We have been clear that to become competitive we needed flexibility to modernise

Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier

The CWU deliberated for a week before agreeing to back the deal and the BBC’s John Moylan said some of the language in the agreement might worry some workers.

The deal includes a one-off payment to workers of GBP 175 and a commitment to close the final salary pension scheme to new members in February and to existing members in April.

From April 2010, the normal retirement age for workers will be extended from 60 to 65 but existing staff will still be able to claim pensions benefits built up before that date at 60.

The CWU said the agreement “settles all areas of the dispute” and would now be subject to a ballot of union members.

Royal Mail said the agreement would allow it to enforce more flexible working patterns and use new technology more efficiently.

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Post Danmark : Postal liberalisation can wait, minister says

Posted by | Oct 22, 2007 | |

The transport and energy minister has indicated that a free market for the nation’s postal services is not a pressing priority

Competitors of Post Danmark will probably have to exercise ample patience before the market is fully liberalised, according to Jakob Axel Nielsen, the transport and energy minister.

The European Commission decided earlier this month that it would put its postal liberalisation plans on hold until 2011 instead of the original January 2009 target date. Nielsen told Jyllands-Posten newspaper on Tuesday that the 2009 goal for the complete liberalisation of Denmark’s postal services was probably too optimistic anyway.

‘The timeframe isn’t that important,’ said Nielsen. ‘What’s important is finding a good solution.’

Post Danmark currently has a monopoly on all mail under 50 grams, which is the lion’s share of letters and small packages. But after announcing earlier this month that customers can expect a lower level of service and higher prices, competitors are chomping at the bit for the opportunity to take a slice of the market.

At the same time, Nielsen’s fellow Conservative, Henriette Kjær, the party’s spokesperson on postal issues, had also said that the liberalisation of the postal market could be achieved by 2009.

Both the Norwegian postal service and Swedish-owned private company CityMail have invested considerable sums to challenge Post Danmark’s dominance of the country’s mail services with an eye towards a 2009 liberalisation.

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Lawsuit against UPS certified as class-action

Posted by | Oct 19, 2007 | |

The suit was brought by former Mail Boxes Etc. franchisees who claim that UPS misled them into believing that the UPS Store model would be more profitable.

Atlanta-based UPS acquired Mail Boxes Etc. in 2001 for about USD 192 million, and the majority of Mail Boxes stores changed their names to The UPS Store, while the UPS subsidiary that oversees the stores has retained the Mail Boxes Etc. name. It is based in San Diego.

All new U.S. franchisees after 2003 were branded The UPS Store.

The former Mail Boxes Etc. franchisees formed a group called the Platinum Shield Association in 2003 to pursue litigation in opposition to the UPS takeover.

Their suit, which was filed in April 2003, now has been certified as class-action by a California appeals court, according to a news release from the Platinum Shield Association.

The appeals court ruled that the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles was wrong in denying a motion to certify a class action in the case.

The plaintiffs are represented by Howard Spanier, a Malibu franchisee who is president of the association.

The suit seeks rescission of the conversion to the UPS store model and unspecified monetary damages, the release said.

Officials with UPS could not immediately be reached for comment.

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Transport strike brings France to a halt

Posted by | Oct 19, 2007 | |

The French walked, used bikes, shared cars, or took the day off yesterday for the biggest national public transport strike since 1995. Unions said the strike will continue today.
Service on most trains on the national network, metros in Paris, and buses in major cities ground to a halt after public workers went on strike to oppose a government plan to roll back their pension privileges. About 319,000 people at railroads, power and gas utilities, schools, and the postal service failed to turn up at work. The special pensions cost the state about USD 7.1 billion a year.
The stoppage marks the first union challenge to President Sarkozy, elected in May on a platform of cutting taxes, reducing the cost of pensions, and liberalizing labor. The pension changes require employees to work 40 years instead of 37 1/2 years to earn a full pension. Pensions will also be linked to the national statistics institute’s price index. Mr. Sarkozy wants the plan completed by 2012.

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IPC leads environmental sustainability initiative

Posted by | Oct 19, 2007 | |

The International Post Corporation (IPC) announced today at its bi-annual Board meeting in New York City, its plans to develop a three-tier program to address environmental sustainability among its member posts. The program will focus on developing common sector-wide definitions and measurement systems; conducting stakeholder research and communicating sector-wide advances in environmental sustainability throughout the postal industry.

“Climate change is no longer an issue of debate,” said Jean-Paul Bailly, chairman and CEO of Groupe La Poste in France and chairman of the IPC Board. “Two prominent areas for concern to postal operators and our industry stakeholders are the operation of extensive road and air transport networks and issues related to direct mail, a strategically critical business for posts.”

Mr. Bailly added, “Because of the sector-wide urgency of the issue, the IPC Board will devote its annual conference this May to develop a common environmental sustainability initiative and map the way forward for the postal industry.” The conference, Leadership through Sustainable Development: Postal Industry Challenges and Opportunities will take place on 29 and 30 May, 2008 in La Chapelle en Serval, France. CEOs representing 24 member postal organizations and several selected CEOs from both inside and outside the industry are expected to attend.

Last month, IPC conducted a members’ forum on the subject of environmental sustainability, where it was decided that IPC should take a leadership role in providing the platforms for members to come together to define the way forward for the sector.

IPC has been a leader in providing postal delivery measurement systems for nearly 20 years, we are the natural partner for the postal industry and it makes sense that we are the organization to develop a common system for environmental measurement and research among the posts,” said Herbert-Michael Zapf, CEO and president, IPC.

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