Tag: Domestic

Posties lodge complaint against Australia Post

Posted by | Sep 26, 2007 | |

The union representing Tasmania’s postal workers has lodged a complaint against Australia Post in the Industrial Relations Commission in Hobart, relating to a secret ballot for protected industrial action.

The Communications Union says up to a fifth of its members didn’t receive ballot papers, and there was a week’s delay in the delivery of the documents after their lodgment in Melbourne.

The union’s Tasmanian secretary, Peter Miller, says the process under the Federal Government’s new workplace laws has been a sham.

A spokesman for Australia Post, Ian Cropper, has rejected the union’s claims.

“There’s no evidence to suggest that the ballot papers have been delayed and for the union to infer that Australia Post is to blame just doesn’t add up,” he said.

“The ballot process is handled entirely independently of Post by the Australian Electoral Commission.”

The union has rejected Australia Post’s offer of a 12 pct pay rise over two and a half years and a USD 500 performance bonus, while locking in all existing award entitlements and conditions.

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USPS racks up USD 5.4 B deficits in 2007

Posted by | Sep 26, 2007 | |

The U.S. Postal Service anticipates a USD 600 million deficit in the next fiscal year, thanks to a new law that requires the agency to fully fund its retiree health benefits out of its operating budget.

The projected 2008 deficit will be a big improvement, however, from the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, in which the Postal Service racked up an estimated USD 5.4 billion deficit. The Postal Service was hit with a double whammy this year, having to pay out its 2006 obligations toward the retiree health program in 2007 along with the current year’s payment.

The fiscal 2008 budget, approved Wednesday by the Postal Service Board of Governors, includes a 4.3 percent increase in operating revenue, due largely to the 2-cent rate hike that took effect in May. No additional rate increase was included in the 2008 budget.
Expenses will increase 1.8 percent, below the projected 2 percent increase in the cost of goods and services. Overall, the operating budget totals USD 78.8 billion.

The 2008 budget predicts a record ninth consecutive year of productivity growth.

The board also approved a capital budget of USD 3.0 billion for 2008, up from USD 2.8 billion this year. The budget includes USD 107.2 million to design and build a new 479,000-square-foot mail processing facility in Miami. The new facility will house five large letter-sorting machines and allow the agency to handle significant growth in the region for the next 20 years.

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La Poste heads for higher 2007 profits as express and parcels grow

Posted by | Sep 26, 2007 | |

The French postal operator Groupe La Poste is on course for a double-digit rise in operating profits this year thanks to good growth for its express and parcels businesses and stable mail activities. Changes are meanwhile taking place at subsidiaries Chronopost and Europe Airpost.

The group announced that it achieved a half-year operating profit of EUR 829 million on revenues up 3.7 pct at EUR 10.5 billion (on a like-for-like comparison). Net profits ended at EUR 504 million.

La Poste stated that the results are “in line” with its planning targets, and reiterated its aim of achieving a 12 pct rise in operating profits and a 5.8 pct operating profit margin this year. It invested EUR 590 million in the half-year, including EUR 105 million for express acquisitions.

The mail business increased half-year revenues by 2.6 pct to EUR 5.95 billion. Volumes were “virtually stable” compared to the general downward trend in mail traffic across Europe, while revenues benefited from new direct marketing customers and added-value products for consumers, La Poste pointed out.

The express division (GeoPost) increased revenues by 8.4 pct (6.4 pct on a like-for-like basis) to EUR 1.54 billion. GeoPost continued its international expansion in the first half-year, including acquisitions of 50pct in South African company Laser and 25 pct in Turkey’s Yurtici Kargo, La Poste stated. The French domestic parcels business (ColiPoste) increased revenues by 6.5pct to EUR 646 million thanks to a surge in e-commerce business.

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USPS aggressive financial plan gets Board of Governors approval

Posted by | Sep 26, 2007 | |

The Postal Service Board of Governors today approved an aggressive 2008 financial plan for the U.S. Postal Service that includes USD 1 billion in cost savings and puts its expense growth lower than inflation.
The Postal Service’s operating, capital and financing plans for the new fiscal year, known as the Integrated Financial Plan (IFP), project expense growth below the assumed increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the most commonly used benchmark for inflation.
Those projections do not assume any price changes for postal products and services over the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. The Board of Governors has not made a decision on future prices but applauded the Postal Regulatory Commission for being well ahead of schedule with its recommendations on the new rate regulations.
The IFP projects revenue of USD 78.2 billion and expenses of USD 78.8 billion in fiscal 2008, for a net loss of USD 600 million. The financial plan is significantly affected by the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (the Postal Act of 2006), as are finances in the current fiscal year.

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