Tag: UK

Royal Mail warned over industrial action

Posted by | Apr 1, 2008 | |

Royal Mail is facing the prospect of a second summer of discontent after postal workers rejected its plans to reform its pension fund.

The Communication Workers Union today called for fresh talks on pensions reform after a ballot of 140,000 members voted heavily against Royal Mail’s plans to curb the fund’s GBP 5 bn deficit.

Last year Royal Mail was hit by a series of damaging strikes over pay, modernisation proposals and pensions.

Royal Mail insists its pension’s reform formed part of the settlement; the union maintains that the issue was “de-coupled” from the other issues.

Royal Mail’s reforms, which came into effect this week, mean that the pension scheme was closed to new employees from March 31 though they will be able to join a new scheme next year. The normal retirement age has been increased from 60 to 65 though it will still be possible to take a pension at 60. From the beginning of April, benefits will accrue on a career average, rather than on a final salary basis, but previous earnings will come under the final salary scheme.

Royal Mail said it could not give a figure for the savings from the changes but added that it was contributing GBP 850m a year to the pension fund. It said that equated to 30 pct of pensionable earning and the reforms would bring that total figure down to 21 pct.

The union said 92 pct of the vote has been against the Royal Mail proposals.

Royal Mail managers voted to reject the pension reforms two weeks ago and the CWU said it would be discussing with their union, Unite, a joint approach to industrial action if it became necessary.

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Postcomm publishes final proposals on Royal Mail's compensation schemes

Posted by | Apr 1, 2008 | |

Postcomm, the independent regulator for postal services, has announced it is minded to accept Royal Mail’s proposed changes to its retail compensation arrangements for lost, damaged and delayed mail.

The regulator has conducted a public consultation and worked closely with Royal Mail and Postwatch to address concerns about the complexity of Royal Mail’s current compensation schemes for retail customers and some inconsistency in how they are applied.

The key changes to the retail compensation arrangements for loss, damage and delay are:

– if the item was posted with Royal Mail, there will be compensation for loss, damage and delay where an item has no intrinsic value or where a claimant cannot provide proof of posting;
– loss and damage to items with an intrinsic value, with proof of posting with Royal Mail and proof of value, will entitle customers to a postage refund plus compensation for actual loss;
– the GBP 5 and GBP 10 payments for delay and substantial delay will be removed, except for Special Delivery Next Day;
– compensation for delayed retail mail will become payable one day earlier than at present;
– redirected mail will be eligible for compensation for delay; and
– users of the Articles for the Blind service will be able to claim compensation for loss, damage and delay.

Postcomm will decide whether to remove the bulk compensation scheme from regulation when it makes a final decision on Royal Mail’s application for suspension of the scheme and the so-called “C-factor” in 2007-08 due to industrial action arising from its transformation plan.

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Postcomm consults on licence for Peoplepost Limited

Posted by | Apr 1, 2008 | |

Postcomm today began a 30-day consultation on the proposed grant of a postal operator’s licence to Peoplepost Limited.

Under the licensing framework that took effect from 1 January 2006, and was amended in January 2008, the licence would:

– allow Peoplepost Limited to provide all types of postal service;
– be issued for a rolling ten year period; and
– require the company to comply with codes of practice on mail integrity (safety and security of the mail) and common operational procedures (designed to ensure the multi-operator market works well in practice).

The closing date for responses is 1 May 2008.

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Sixteen Postal Operators Sign REIMS III Terminal Dues Agreement

Posted by | Apr 1, 2008 | |

After two years of negotiations European postal operators have reached a new agreement on terminal dues payments replacing the REIMS II Agreement in force since 1997.

The REIMS III Agreement took effect on 1 January 2008 with sixteen European postal operators committing to it. REIMS stands for Remuneration for the Exchange of International Mails. The sixteen posts that are now part of REIMS III are from the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

Additional posts are expected to sign the agreement, which will remain open for signature for all present and former parties of the REIMS II Agreement and the REIMS East Agreement that participated in its negotiation.

REIMS III continues with quality of service standards much more ambitious than the targets under the EU Postal Directive. The individualized penalties in REIMS III for not reaching the J+1 standard and a target of 93 percent will continue to produce quality of service benefits. Transitional rules have been outlined that will continue to raise targets for those parties that have not yet reached 93% J+1.

A second benefit in the REIMS III agreement is that ensures that terminal dues as stipulated in the EU Postal Directive are cost-based, and are based on regulated domestic tariffs in the delivering country.

The parties to REIMS III have the firm commitment to continue to offer Third Party Access in line with the EU Commission’s 2003 Exemption Decision.

With the REIMS East transitional arrangement and the REIMS and REIMS East IDM Agreements incorporated into the REIMS III Agreement, it is expected that more REIMS East parties will sign the REIMS III Agreement during 2008.

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Post Office Ltd announces plan for Northern Ireland

Posted by | Apr 1, 2008 | |

Post Office Ltd today (Tuesday, 1 April) opened local public consultation on changes to the Post Office® network in Northern Ireland needed to meet Government requirements.

Proposals for the future provision of Post Office services have been published today and will remain open for consultation for six weeks until 12 May 2008.

Under the Northern Ireland proposals, 94.1 pct of the total population will see no change to their nearest Post Office branch.

The plan proposes future provision of Post Office services through a network of 492 branches, including 54 outreach outlets, while 42 branches would close. The number of branches in the network currently is 534.

Of the 492 branches that are proposed to remain open, 54 Post Office branches will be operated through a form of outreach service. These services will give customers continued access to Post Office services in their local communities on a regular basis without having to travel to another branch.

Possible types of outreach service include a mobile Post Office visiting small communities at set times; a hosted service operated within third-party premises for restricted hours each week (a local community centre, for example); a partner service within the premises of local retail partner (such as a shop), or a home service whereby customers can contact a subpostmaster by telephone for Post Office services.

Post Office Ltd is seeking views on the proposed future service provision in Northern Ireland including, in particular, views on access to Post Office services, the accessibility of alternative branches to those proposed for closure and the appropriate provision of outreach services.

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