Mail delivery company PIN Group, majority owned by German publisher Axel Springer, plans to cut more than a 1,000 jobs in Germany due to a planned minimum wage law for postal delivery workers.
The company, which is based in Luxembourg and Germany, will sound out options for its future with the help of a consulting firm, it said in a statement on Tuesday.
EU commissioner Nelie Kroes is planning to investigate the German government’s decision to introduce minimum wages for postal workers, Der Spiegel reported, without citing its sources.
The German government last week decided to extend minimum wages of 8-9.80 eur per hour paid by incumbent Deutsche Post World Net AG to the whole industry, which means its main competitors TNT NV’s TNT Post and Axel Springer AG’s PIN Group will lose their cost advantages.
The report said Kroes will investigate whether the minimum wages are an unjustified preferential treatment of Deutsche Post.
Read MoreDHL will provide a special service to its customers on the fourth Sunday in Advent: DHL will deliver packages like its a regular working day to ensure that all gifts will reach recipients in time for Christmas. Christmas Eve at DHL will be a regular delivery day for DHL for packages, parcels and letters as is the case every year. Customers who are not at home at the time of delivery on Christmas Eve do still have the opportunity to pick up their parcel on the same day until late evening at the nearest DHL station.
“This additional service on a Sunday again demonstrates DHL’s strong commitment towards customer driven services. Beneficiaries of this special offer are business customers as well as private consumers. Only DHL can provide this seamless service due to the engagement of our employees and our unparalleled distribution network in Germany,” says Uwe Brinks, Managing Director DHL Parcel Germany.
Read MoreTNT NV’s TNT Post and Hermes Logistik Gruppe said they have cancelled plans to offer mail services to retail clients and small companies after the German government decided to introduce minimum wages for the postal industry.
The two companies will not implement plans to expand the 13,500 parcel stations of Hermes to mail acceptance stations.
TNT Post said it will therefore not offer a universal mail service.
The German government last week decided to extend minimum wages of between 8-9.80 eur per hour, agreed by services union ver.di and an employers’ association dominated by Deutsche Post World Net AG, to the whole industry.
Hermes Logistik Gruppe is a Hamburg-based logistics group.
Read MoreGerman publisher Axel Springer is considering exiting its postal business after the German government’s decision this week to impose a minimum wage for workers in the sector, a company spokeswoman said.
Springer has been in talks with Dutch mail and parcel group TNT about merging their German mail services companies, TNT Post and Springer’s PIN Group, a personal familiar with the matter has told Reuters.
But German weekly magazine Focus reported on Saturday that the talks had broken down after the government set minimum wages of up to 9.80 euros ($14.45) per hour, depending on the employee’s level of responsibility.
The sum is far more than private competitors to former state monopoly Deutsche Post pay their employees.
The Springer spokeswoman told Reuters: “We are examining all options and currently cannot rule out anything as regards the future of PIN.” She declined to comment on the current state of negotiations with TNT.
Springer bought a majority stake in PIN for 510 million euros earlier this year in anticipation of the liberalisation of the postal market in Germany, where Deutsche Post is set to lose its domestic mail monopoly at the start of next year.
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