Tag: Domestic

Nigeria: Postal Commission Bill to Pass Soon

Posted by | Jun 27, 2007 | |

The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) disclosed Tuesday that it was reviewing the draft postal sector bill that would usher in the Postal Commission, in collaboration with the stakeholders in the Communications sector.

The Bureau which said the bill when passed and enacted by the National Assembly would ensure the establishment of the Postal Commission, stated that at the end of the review process, the final bill along with the sector policy will be forwarded to the Ministry of Communications for onward submission to the Federal Executive Council for consideration.

Making this known in Abuja while reacting to a publication in one of the national dailies titled: “Stakeholders accuse BPE of stalling Postal Commission”, BPE’s Head of Public Communications, Mr. Chigbo Anichebe stated that, towards implementing the postal sector reform, “the Federal Government through an international competitive bid process, engaged the NethPost Consortium early this year to provide advisory services for the postal sector reform and restructuring of Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST). The consortium, he pointed out, comprises NethPost consultancy of Netherlands, KPMG, Pinheiro & Company, and B.M. Associates.”

He said the consortium was given the assignment to “formulate a postal sector policy for Nigeria; draft a new postal legislation for enactment by the National Assembly; establishment of an independent sector regulator; and restructure the incumbent public operator (NIPOST) into new business units.”

Anichebe however added that, “in order to build consensus for the postal sector reform and restructuring of NIPOST, the BPE in conjunction with NIPOST and the Ministry of Information &Communications organized a one-day stakeholders’ workshop last April at the Sheraton Hotels & Towers, Abuja. The objective of the workshop was to obtain stakeholders’ buy- in and support for the postal reform process.”

Consequently, he said, after the stakeholders’ workshop, the consultants’ commenced with the drafting of the postal sector policy and reform bill. The first draft of the postal sector policy was sent to the BPE by the consultants on April 27, 2007.

Accordingly, he noted, the BPE forwarded the draft policy to all stakeholders (NIPOST, Ministry of Communications, Association of Nigerian Couriers Operators, Nigerian International Air Couriers Association, etc) for their comments. The comments received were in turn forwarded to the consultants.

He said based on comments from stakeholders, the consultants revised the policy to incorporate relevant comments and observations. “The revised policy was submitted to the BPE on May 11, 2007. It was also sent to the Ministry of Communications, NIPOST and other stakeholders for further comments (if any). Before the BPE could get comments from all the stakeholders on the draft policy, the tenure of the last government lapsed,” he added.

Anichebe argued that the policy alone could not set up the commission. “A sector regulator cannot become reality without the passage of. the Postal Sector Reform Bill by the National Assembly and its assent by the president.”

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The National Labor Relations Board delivers labor jab to FedEx

Posted by | Jun 27, 2007 | |

The National Labor Relations Board’s certification of a union vote last week involving FedEx Home Delivery drivers in Wilmington, Mass., could add a layer of intrigue to a case that pits the independent-driver model against the more traditional employee model.

Drivers in the Home Delivery division in Wilmington last October voted 24-8 to choose the Teamsters as their bargaining representative.

By intervening, the NLRB said it agreed that the drivers are employees and not independent contractors, according to Patricia Gilbert, NLRB spokeswoman in Washington.

The decision was made by the regional director in Massachusetts.

FedEx says the 15,000 people who drive its courier vehicles with the purple and green FedEx painted on the side are independent contractors running their routes as they see fit.

They own their own trucks and pay all expenses, including fuel and maintenance.

But a growing number of the drivers say they are really employees, paid like contractors, who have given FedEx an edge over rival UPS, which employs Teamster drivers.

Drivers in Tennessee, California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, South Dakota and elsewhere are suing FedEx, arguing the company shirks worker protection laws by refusing to hire them as employees eligible for overtime pay, health insurance, workers’ compensation and other benefits. They also want to be reimbursed for back operating expenses and lost benefits.

FedEx Ground, based in Pittsburgh, was created in 1998 as a way to diversify FedEx Express, the world’s largest cargo airline. Its independent-contractor system promotes huge efficiencies, saving it equipment, insurance and benefits costs. But the structure also keeps drivers from organizing, experts say.

A victory by the unhappy drivers would raise employee costs and force FedEx Ground to maintain its own fleet of trucks.

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Postcomm agree to Royal Mail request

Posted by | Jun 26, 2007 | |

Postcomm has agreed to Royal Mail’s request to suspend until the end of its current financial year the payment of compensation to bulk mail customers, and to ensure that the company is not subject to a downward adjustment to its allowed revenues (known as the ‘C factor’), where industrial action has taken place and quality of service figures have dropped.

The reason for this decision is that Postcomm wishes to ensure that – against a background of Royal Mail’s current financial position, including its substantial pension deficit – the possibility of having to pay compensation and/or earning reduced revenue next year does not discourage the company from taking the steps needed to modernise its business, which will be to the benefit of all mail users.

Postcomm’s agreement to these suspensions is subject to some important safeguards for customers:

-A final decision on the amount of any relief will not be made until after the end of this financial year (31 March 2008) when Royal Mail’s final quality of service figures will be known. In making its decision at that point, Postcomm will expect Royal Mail to be able to demonstrate that the industrial action (a)arose as a result of carrying out its transformation plans and not for some other reason, and (b) had a direct causal link to quality of service failures.

-After the end of the financial year, Postcomm will convene an open meeting at which Royal Mail will present the main points in its application. Participants will be able to ask for further explanation of the justification for agreement by Postcomm to Royal Mail’s request.

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Poste Italiane: Minister Gentiloni establishes new minimum working standards of post offices in summer

Posted by | Jun 22, 2007 | |

The Minister for Communications, Paolo Gentiloni, showed the ministerial decree endorsed by him, establishing new minimum working criteria post offices will be obliged to respect in summer.
This decree states criteria avoiding to Poste Italiane to work short time or, even, not to work at all because of the total closure of its post offices. For this current summer they will recourse to provisional criteria.
Poste Italiane ever made recourse to daily or hourly reductions in working timetable either to cope with rotating shifts due to staff holidays or for a reduction in daily work at post offices desks. This produced great worry in people of those municipalities concerned in closure, mayors and prefects of the involved area. So much so that, last summer many mayors of little municipalities ( sometimes with a little post office ), while expressing the disconfort due to these reductions, demanded, as everybody’s concern, more guarantees concerning the execution of tasks.
In consideration of this, the Ministry of Communications, in joined agreement with Poste Italiane, issued a 2007 plan to better guarantee users in defining minimum working standards to vouch for the service mostly in municipalities with 5000 people or less or, at any case, to avoid every modification in timetable under 18 hours a week.
The ministerial decree introduces the summer Opening Plan to be transmitted to the Ministry of Communications within 30 April of every year for the timespan 15 June – 15 September. If the Plan, submitted to the Ministry of Communications exam, is deemed compatible with standards defined in art. 12, it will be forwarded to both CNCU (National Council of Consumers and Users) and ANCI (National Association Italian Municipalities) in order to receive relevant, non binding opinions.

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Germany will extend minimum wage legislation in the postal sector

Posted by | Jun 20, 2007 | |

Germany is planning to extend minimum wage legislation to cover the postal sector. The move follows claims of “pay-dumping” in the partly-liberalised mail market.

The Christian Democrat – Social Democrat coalition government agreed after long negotiations on Monday night that the postal sector should be covered by minimum wage regulations if employers and employee representatives wished so.

This means that pay agreements can be extended to cover an entire industry, including companies with no collective pay deals. At present, Deutsche Post and the Verdi union have a collective agreement, and Verdi has started talks with TNT Post and PIN Group.

The political agreement follows a long campaign by Verdi over alleged pay-dumping by private mail firms and claims by Deutsche Post that rivals were winning business on the basis of lower wages.

In response to the political decision, the MFIP lobby group, representing private German postal companies, said it supported fair minimum social standards in the sector but warned that regulations should not hold back competition. It pointed to a recent survey by the German postal regulator Bundesnetzagentur which found that private mail firms are not paying the “dumping wages” alleged by Deutsche Post, postal unions and some Social Democrat politicians.

“The same minimum social standards for all companies also assume fair competitive conditions for all market participants, for example on the issue of the currently different handling of VAT,” added MFIP spokesman Bernd Jäger. At present, Deutsche Post is exempt from charging 19% VAT on letters and small parcels while competitors are legally obliged to charge the tax.

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