Tag: Europe

Germany inches towards postal sector minimum wage

Posted by | Nov 29, 2007 | |

German services union Verdi and the postal employers’ association have agreed on a new formula for their wage contract which could open the way to a deal on a minimum wage in the sector, the union said on Thursday.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD), who rule in an uneasy coalition, have been arguing about the possible introduction of a legally binding minimum wage for the sector for months.

A spokeswoman for Verdi said the new version of the wage contract would apply to companies that “predominantly” transport letters.

The formulation is a response to worries from Merkel’s conservatives that Deutsche Post’s competitors, who pay lower wages, could be hit if a minimum wage of between 8 and 9.8 euros was brought in for the whole sector, as the SPD wants.

If the two parties can agree, the wage could come into effect when Deutsche Post’s monopoly ends at the start of next year.

Verdi’s pay commission still has to approve the proposal.

The two parties have been wrangling for months over which employees a minimum wage should apply to and whether that would amount to half of the number of employees in the sector.

Deutsche Post’s competitors, who include Dutch mail company TNT, have said the suggested minimum wage is too high.

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Chronopost delivers iPhones for France Télécom in high-security operation

Posted by | Nov 29, 2007 | |

La Poste’s French domestic express subsidiary Chronopost successfully contributed to the launch of Apple’s popular new iPhones in France by transporting 25,000 mobiles to 650 branches of France Telecom last week in a high-security operation.

Chronopost picked up the 25,000 iPhones from the French communications group and transported them under escort to its hub in Massy. There they were sorted under surveillance for onward distribution by a special team in 10 dedicated trucks accompanied by security guards to 55 regional Chronopost depots.

The high-value phones were then delivered to 650 local offices of France Telecom under special security arrangements. To ensure a smooth delivery, France Telecom provided security guards at the entrance of each office.

“Chronopost was able to meet our high expectations for this extremely sensitive delivery in terms of delivery times and shipments safety,” stated Claude Sanchez, responsible for transport procurement at France Telecom Supply Chain France.

“For this operation, Chronopost gathered together its entire know-how in express delivery, especially in applying security measures for the treatment of sensitive products. All of the Chronopost teams, which are used to this procedure, were mobilized for this project to respond to our customers’ needs,” added Andrè Valade, Chronopost security manager.

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Supreme Court denies FedEx appeal

Posted by | Nov 29, 2007 | |

The Supreme Court of California on Thursday denied the final appeal of FedEx Corp.’s domestic ground unit, which tried to overturn a lower court’s ruling that FedEx drivers are employees and not independent contractors.

The package delivery company claimed its drivers are independent contractors, which under federal labor laws prevents them from organizing, and from receiving medical, pension and other benefits given to employees.

Last month, a federal judge approved class-action status for a lawsuit filed on behalf of about 14,000 FedEx Ground delivery drivers.

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Cooperation with Adria Airways: time:matters Integrates the Slovenian Capital Ljubljana into its Sameday Route Network

Posted by | Nov 29, 2007 | |

Effective December 1, 2007 time:matters, the expert for courier, sameday and emergency logistics which belongs to the Lufthansa group, will cooperate with the Slovenian airline Adria Airways. The airline, which is based in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana, is as the country’s largest and most significant airline, a member of the “Star Alliance” carrier network. With the new partnership, time:matters expands its route network that encompasses around 400 destinations in 90 countries to Ljubljana Airport (airport-code: LJU). Thus southeast Central Europe gains a quick direct connection to the international logistics network of the provider that specializes in especially reliable “high-speed” solutions. This will result in advantages not only for companies that have particularly urgent shipments to send to or from Slovenia – the companies based in neighboring Austria or its bordering country Slovakia will benefit from the new sameday hub at the nearby Ljubljana Airport as well.

Due to the agreed cooperation between Adria Airways and time:matters, the Greater Ljubljana/Vienna/Bratislava area is practically moving closer to numerous economic centers both in Europe and around the world. The integration of Adria’s flight plan into time:matters’ sameday route network means for example that important components or spare parts can be flown directly from Ljubljana to Vienna four times a day or to Zurich three times a day – so that they usually reach their recipient within just a few hours after dispatch. Up to now such express deliveries often first had to be transported from Slovenia to Graz Airport by car, causing the loss of valuable time. Since flights from Ljubljana also fly to the important transit airports in Frankfurt and Munich several times a day, express shipments to destinations outside of Europe can in many cases also be realized “sameday.”

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Public consultation on access to mail boxes installed in apartment buildings with controlled access

Posted by | Nov 29, 2007 | |

ARCEP is launching a consultation on how to provide access to mail boxes installed in apartment buildings with controlled access.

An increasing number of apartment building residents are opting for permanently restricted access. Yet, at the same time, changing lifestyles require that more and more service providers frequently enter apartment buildings, to exercise their activity on residents’ request, in particular for distribution or for personal service.

Today, authorised postal operators (1) and press carriers face difficulties gaining access to mail boxes inside apartment buildings with controlled access systems, such as Vigik.

However, article L. 5-10 of the post and electronic communications code (CPCE) states: “In order to be able to distribute postal items, the universal service provider and bearers of the authorisation covered by Article L. 3 have access to individual mail boxes, under identical conditions which are defined by a decree of the Council of State, established following an opinion issued by the Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques et des postes”.

For this reason, ARCEP is opening a public consultation on the solutions and necessary changes to the effective application of Article L. 5-10 of the CPCE. A number of scenarios are possible, on which ARCEP wishes to collect as many opinions from players as possible. These scenarios aim to reconcile residents’ demand for security and the increase in the number of service providers having to enter apartment buildings to meet residents’ needs.

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