Tag: Europe

New Chairman for Maltapost

Posted by | Oct 23, 2007 | |

Lombard Bank Malta plc CEO and Director Joseph Said has been appointed Chairman of Maltapost plc, succeeding David Stellini who shall however retain a place on the Board.

The change at the helm of the postal company follows the recent acquisition by Lombard Bank of an additional 25 per cent shareholding in Maltapost from the Government.

The Bank thus became the major shareholder in the company, as its total shareholding in Maltapost was raised to 60 per cent.

The Maltapost Board is now made up of, Joseph Azzopardi, Ian Pellicano, Joseph Said, David Stellini, Philip Tabone, and newly appointed director Aurelio Theuma, who is the Chief Financial Officer of Lombard Bank Malta plc.

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Breakthrough in postal row

Posted by | Oct 22, 2007 | |

An end to the bitter postal workers’ dispute is in sight after union leaders ratified a deal on pay and modernisation aimed at halting months of disruption to mail deliveries.

Around 130,000 members of the Communication Workers Union will now vote on whether to accept the agreement and break the deadlocked row which has cost the Royal Mail tens of millions of pounds and hit domestic and business customers across the UK.

Business groups and the Government welcomed the breakthrough, although MPs on a select committee examining the dispute reported “anger” among workers at the way management had behaved.

The Royal Mail said the deal involved a 5.4 pct pay rise over two years, plus 1.5 pct next year when agreed reforms to the service are delivered.

The retirement age will increase from 60 to 65 and the final salary pension scheme will close to new members from January, to be replaced with a defined contribution scheme. Pension pots built up before next April will be protected.

Royal Mail said there will be full co-operation on the deployment of new technology, while staff will cover for one another within a unit to help absorb a colleague’s absence or an increase in workload.

Business Secretary John Hutton told the Trade and Industry Select Committee the deal was affordable and would help Royal Mail cut costs. He acknowledged the dispute had damaged Royal Mail and lost the firm customers and said he believed industrial action was not justified.

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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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Royal Mail offers broadband

Posted by | Oct 22, 2007 | |

The Post Office, a subsidiary of the state-owned Royal Mail, will begin selling ADSL broadband connections at the end of the month through a deal with British Telecom’s wholesale arm.

A connection running at up to 8 megabits per second and subject to “fair usage” limits will cost GBP 15.95 a month, or GBP 25.95 a month when bundled with a phone line and 60 minutes off-peak calling a month.

The Post Office began selling home phone lines two years ago and has signed up 400,000 customers.

Delivery has been outsourcing to BT Wholesale, but staff at Britain’s 14,000 post office’s will help sell the broadband service to customers.

Market researcher Ovum says the Post Office’s offering is straightforward and attractive and it will be hoping to capitalise on its “trusted brand”, but success will hinge on the performance and consistency of the service and customer support.

Ovum says these have been getting plenty of attention in Britain, where some customers have been jaded by their experiences with “free broadband” packages from the Carphone Warehouse and others.

The Post Office is looking for new revenue streams now the Government is paying most social security and pension payments directly into people’s bank accounts and a GBP 150 million rural subsidy is in doubt.

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