Tag: UK

Royal Mail piling post high to reduce environmental impact

Posted by | Sep 20, 2007 | |

Royal Mail is raising the roof on its trailers to cut down on the environmental impact of its distribution network.

The business has taken delivery of 140 double-deck trailers – each with the capacity to hold 50 per cent more mail than conventional trailers.

The use of the trailers will reduce the road miles and carbon emissions of that part of Royal Mail’s operation by around 20 per cent.

Royal Mail has reduced the carbon emissions produced by its distribution network by 28 per cent in recent years and the purchase of the double-deck trailers – adding to 83 already in use – further demonstrates the business’s commitment to reducing the impact of its operations on the environment.

Each trailer will hold approximately 100,000 items of mail – equivalent to the post for the whole of Islington, Harlow or Carlisle for a day.

The new vehicles are 13.6 meters long and 4.44 meters high. They have been specifically designed by The Cartwright Group.

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Royal Mail condemns CWU strike decision

Posted by | Sep 20, 2007 | |

Royal Mail today condemned the decision by the Communications Workers Union to call further strikes. The decision comes after five weeks of discussions, under the auspices of the TUC and ACAS, to try to resolve the issues that lie behind the dispute. During those talks we offered both short and long term solutions, while keeping within the 2.5 pct available for pay this year but rather than accept a way forward the union tabled proposals that would cost the business GBP 2.4 billion over four years.

The company also criticized the CWU for failing during seven months of talks to produce any serious proposals that could help resolve the issues that lie between us and move the business forward.

Royal Mail criticized the union for misleading their members over the important issue of pensions. The union has wrongly said that we have taken “executive action” on pensions when they know the company has not yet started its official 60-day pension consultation, which will begin in the first week in October and during which we will be listening to the views of all our people and other stakeholders. Any other future operational changes recently announced by the company have been done in line with our existing agreements with the union and give the proper notice period before the change.

The call for further strikes does not change the urgent need for Royal Mail to modernize and become more flexible and efficient if it is to survive. For our people, flexibility would simply mean working the hours they are paid to work and to do what they are trained to do in a safe environment – something which has been taken for granted for many years in almost every company in the UK.

The union’s repeated refusal to contemplate the changes we must make if we are to be able to compete in an increasingly tough market simply shows that they are completely out of touch with UK industry and the reality of how competitive markets work.

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Business Post launches i-mail

Posted by | Sep 20, 2007 | |

Business Post’s UK Mail business has announced the New Year launch of its i-mail next day service in a partnership with Royal Mail. Business Post customers will be able to send an electronic copy of a letter or document to one of Royal Mail’s sort centres where it will be printed, sealed and transferred to Royal Mail for final-leg delivery.

Business Post says prices for the new service will start at less than the price of a first-class stamp, including stationery and printing. It claims the agreement makes UK Mail the first private organisation to provide an alternative next-day service to nationwide addresses. Customers will be able to send mail as late as 6pm to secure next-day delivery.

“We’ve been looking at it a little while,” says head of group marketing Nigel Proctor, who adds that the group has been in talks with Royal Mail for around eight months. In-house trials of the service will begin next month and software developments are in place with a third-party provider.

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MPs urge extension of shares agencies

Posted by | Sep 20, 2007 | |

The agency set up to help the taxpayer get better value for money from the remaining nationalized businesses should have its remit extended and its powers strengthened.

But a potential conflict of interest in its responsibilities for the Royal Mail and the Post Office network – one of the more difficult issues facing the government – should be removed, the Commons’ public accounts committee recommended yesterday.

The Shareholder Executive, set up in 2003, advises on or manages the government’s shareholding in 27 of the bigger and more sensitive businesses that taxpayers still own or have a stake in – such as BNFL, air traffic control, the Met Office, Channel 4, British Waterways and the Royal Mint.

It has done a good job, the cross-party group of MPs said yesterday, helping stem losses and increase profits in businesses that turn over about GBP 21bn.

A separate board is being created to oversee the executive, which should help with the independence issue, the committee said.

But departments with other businesses that have a turnover of more than GBP 4 bn are not required to use the executive’s services – and in at least one case appear to have struck poor deals as a result.

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UK's CWU union announces two 48-hour Royal Mail strikes in October

Posted by | Sep 20, 2007 | |

Postal workers will stage two 48-hour strikes on Oct 5-6 and Oct 8-9 in the next stage of their dispute with Royal Mail over job cuts and pay, the Communication Workers Union has announced.

The workers will also start a rolling program of strikes from Oct 15 and continuing weekly until the dispute is resolved, the union said.

CWU deputy general secretary Dave Ward said the strikes were a proportionate response to Royal Mail’s actions.

“The workforce has had enough of Royal Mail messing them around,” he said. “We’re not going to tolerate an employer that ignores its workforce, ignores the union and ignores its customers.” Earlier this month the union rejected the latest package put forward by Royal Mail, which consisted of a 6.7 pct increase on basic pay over two years, because of a disagreement over working hours. The pay offer comprised the 2.5 pct increase originally proposed for this year, plus a further 0.5 pct from money accrued in “share of savings schemes” and an additional 800 stg if targets are met.

Royal Mail condemned the strike action, saying it is clear that the CWU leadership does not begin to understand the challenges facing Royal Mail and the very serious consequences for the business if we do not push ahead and modernize.

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