Tag: TNT

TNT suspends workplace talks with unions

Posted by | Feb 29, 2008 | |

TNT NV has confirmed a statement from trade union Abvakabo FNV that it has suspended talks with Dutch trade unions over a new collective labour agreement (CAO).

TNT spokesman Pieter Schaffels said talks have been suspended for a couple of days and the matter is now being discussed at a board of management level.

Abvakabo spokeswoman Toos Bierhoff said unions are demanding a 3.5 pct wage rise and a new CAO from April 1, while TNT is requesting a wage freeze.

The Dutch postal company has been in talks with the unions for several months to reach an agreement on its cost-cutting programme, which targets 370 mln eur in annual savings by 2015, to be achieved partly via the 6,500-7,000 job cuts.

However, if an agreement cannot be reached with unions over savings on wages, overtime pay, pension costs and other issues, TNT said it may be forced to lay-off up to 11,000 workers to meet its targeted savings.

‘If we can agree on a wage freeze for 2.5 years and can talk about a lowering of labour conditions such as benefits, we can then keep the number of job losses restricted to 6,500-7,000,’ TNT’s Schaffels said.

He said the suspension in talks with unions is therefore ‘disappointing’.

In November, TNT and the unions extended the CAO until April 1 to allow more time to reach an agreement in the proposed savings.

Abvakabo’s Bierhoff declined to speculate about industrial action now that talks with TNT have been suspended.

Read More

Opening of EU mail markets to raise competitive pressure on postal companies -S&P

Posted by | Feb 28, 2008 | |

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said the opening of the EU’s 90 bln eur mail markets to full competition from 2011 will raise the competitive pressure on the four large European postal companies, Deutsche Post AG, rated ‘A-‘ with a negative outlook, TNT NV, rated ‘BBB+’, La Poste, rated ‘AA-‘ and Italy’s Poste Italiane Group, rated ‘A’, with stable outlooks.
S&P said the slow pace of liberalisation over a 15-year period has also offered a strong competitive advantage to these incumbent national mail services. This has given the companies the chance to reposition themselves in more lucrative segments of the mail market and expand into non-mail activities like international express and logistics and financial services.
Deutsche Post and TNT are likely to be key players in sector consolidation, and their ratings will continue to benefit from their strongly cash-generative mail segments, the agency added.
S&P said state-owned La Poste will also benefit from the slow pace of full liberalisation of its home market, which gives it more time to streamline and modernize its mail operations, leverage its costly network with its enlarged banking offer, and eventually match competitors’ efficiency and profitability.
While, Poste Italiane, although also not privatised, may be in a stronger position because its financial services contribute a strong 67 pct of its total sales, compared with 22 pct for La Poste, the agency said.
All four players may also face regulation risks because the European Commission liberalisation plan still upholds the controversial ‘universal service obligation on incumbent national postal services, obliging them to continue to provide full territorial collection and delivery at least five days a week at an affordable cost, S&P added.

Read More

TNT sceptical it can find buyer for mail operations if it decides to exit Germany

Posted by | Feb 27, 2008 | |

TNT NV is sceptical it would find a buyer for its German mail operations if it decides to exit the business, chief executive Peter Bakker told Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

TNT is considering exiting the German mail business as its margins are under pressure by the introduction of minimum wages paid at incumbent Deutsche Post World Net AG.

PIN Group, a German group of regional mail companies, is currently looking for a buyer.

‘But the fact that a large number of its companies has filed for insolvency doesn’t leave me very optimistic’, Bakker said.

Bakker said TNT has raised hourly wages to 7.50 eur from around 7.30 eur previously, but can not afford to pay the mandatory 9.80 eur minimum wage.

TNT previously said it would have to write off some 80 mln eur, if it closes its German mail operations without finding a buyer.

Read More

Union wants delay in opening up Dutch post market

Posted by | Feb 26, 2008 | |

The Netherlands should open its postal market to full competition only when all workers in the sector get minimum wages and have labour contracts, a senior official at Dutch union FNV Bondgenoten said on Tuesday.

“We do not want workers to pay for an open market,” Jan de Jong, an FNV Bondgenoten director responsible for road transport and haulage affairs, told Reuters in an interview.
“At this moment, lots of postal workers do not have minimum wages. Workers at Selekt Mail and Sandd earn less than 40 percent of minimum wages. They only work two, three days a week. There should be a level playing field for everybody,” he said.

The Dutch government postponed the full opening of the market, due in January, in part because of the introduction of a minimum wage for postal workers in Germany, which it said impedes competition and where TNT had hoped to expand its operations.

It also cited ongoing talks on labour conditions for postmen in the Netherlands. The economy ministry is expected to update Parliament by this week on the situation.
Dominant mail company TNT NV has the remaining monopoly for letters up to 50 grammes, with the market estimated to be worth about 1 billion euros in 2007.

TNT’s workers have employment contracts, but rivals Sandd and Deutsche Post’s Dutch unit Selekt Mail usually do not offer contracts and pay postal workers by the number of items delivered.

This situation should only be tolerated in the short term until the companies are able to compete more effectively with TNT, said de Jong.

Read More

TNT Express merges Dutch and Belgian businesses

Posted by | Feb 26, 2008 | |

TNT Express is merging its subsidiaries in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg into a new unit, TNT Express Benelux, to grow its business and improve service levels.

The main aims of the merger are to generate strategic and innovation advantages and create customer benefits through improved service and easier coordination with harmonized systems and processes, TNT Express said in a statement.

TNT Express Benelux will be headed by Rob van den Helder as managing director. Other senior managers include Silvio Mestdagh (Director Sales and Marketing Benelux), Bas Janssen (Director Operations & Services Benelux) and Wim Schalk (Finance & ICS Benelux). Michel Timmermans will be regional manager for the Netherlands and Karl Moeremans will be in charge of Belgium & Luxembourg.

TNT Express Benelux, with 2,100 employees, will have one head office at two locations: one in Houten (Netherlands) and one in Brussels (Belgium). TNT Express Netherlands, with nearly 1,500 staff, was the larger of the two businesses being merged.

Read More

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

P&P Poll

Loading

What's the future of the postal USO?

Thank you for voting
You have already voted on this poll!
Please select an option!



View ResultsHide Results

Post & Parcel Magazine


Post & Parcel Magazine is our print publication, released 3 times a year. Packed with original content and thought-provoking features, Post & Parcel Magazine is a must-read for those who want the inside track on the industry.

Subscribe to the Magazine

 

Pin It on Pinterest