Tag: UK

Royal Mail union demands 27% pay rise and shorter working hours

Posted by | Mar 21, 2007 | |

Royal Mail is facing union demands for a 27 per cent pay rise that the post group claims will cost an extra GBP1 billion a year, The Times has learnt.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has asked for the minimum payment of its members to be brought into line with average basic pay in the UK. The main postal union is also demanding that its members work a 35-hour week, rather than the existing 40 hours.

The CWU says that postal workers, who earn a minimum of GBP311 per week, should be able to benefit from investment and improvements expected in the business over the next few years.

In a letter to Royal Mail, Dave Ward, the CWU deputy general secretary, said: “Given the proposed scale of change within the company, we require a pay settlement that achieves UK average basic pay for OPGs [outdoor postal grades]. This was set at GBP395 per week in 2006 and we are undertaking research to establish whether the figure has subsequently increased.”

The CWU says that the rise could be phased in, although Royal Mail said that the union had called for the increase to be immediate. Mr Ward said: “The business has a five-year plan for success and that must include raising the value and status of postal workers’ jobs in that timescale.”

The postal organisation, which has a pension deficit of GBP6.6 billion and recently reported a plunge in its profits, says that it cannot afford such a rise. A spokesman said: “This pay claim will cost us GBP1 billion at a time when we are facing full competition and the cost of servicing our pension deficit is pushing our profits down 86 per cent.” The group maintains that it already pays better rates than its competitors.

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Nightfreight drives back into black

Posted by | Mar 21, 2007 | |

Specialist delivery business Nightfreight has forged back into the black – posting pretax profits of pounds 4.1 million for the year to November 30, compared to the previous year’s loss of pounds 6.2 million. The company yesterday said it had improved turnover by 6.83 per cent, up by pounds 8.4 million to pounds 131.9 million, while operating profits rose 250 per cent, up by pounds 3.1 million to pounds 4.38 million.

Nightfreight, which started life at Willenhall in 1984 and still remains headquartered there, said the improvements in its performance reflected the benefits of an ongoing investment programme in both customer service and operational developments. Steve Allen, chief executive, said: “Throughout 2006, the company has made good progress improving its financial performance and commencing its transition to becoming a logistics and solutions business, offering customers new integrated services that will meet their changing requirements.”

Nightfreight is currently owned by Royal Bank of Scotland.

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Royal Mails Postal union demands 27% pay rise

Posted by | Mar 21, 2007 | |

Royal Mail is facing union demands for a 27 per cent pay rise that the post group claims will cost an extra GBP 1 billion a year, The Times has learnt.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has asked for the minimum payment of its members to be brought into line with average basic pay in the UK. The main postal union is also demanding that its members work a 35-hour week, rather than the existing 40 hours.

The CWU says that postal workers, who earn a minimum of GBP 311 per week, should be able to benefit from investment and improvements expected in the business over the next few years.

In a letter to Royal Mail, Dave Ward, the CWU deputy general secretary, said: “Given the proposed scale of change within the company, we require a pay settlement that achieves UK average basic pay for OPGs [outdoor postal grades]. This was set at GBP 395 per week in 2006 and we are undertaking research to establish whether the figure has subsequently increased.”

The CWU says that the rise could be phased in, although Royal Mail said that the union had called for the increase to be immediate.

The postal organisation, which has a pension deficit of GBP 6.6 billion and recently reported a plunge in its profits, says that it cannot afford such a rise. A spokesman said: “This pay claim will cost us GBP 1 billion at a time when we are facing full competition and the cost of servicing our pension deficit is pushing our profits down 86 per cent.” The group maintains that it already pays better rates than its competitors.

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Royal Mail reveals direct mail dip

Posted by | Mar 21, 2007 | |

The Royal Mail has released figures which show that direct mail volumes and expenditure are falling.

Volumes for 2006 were down to 5.03 billion items, a 2.1 per cent drop on last year’s figures. Total expenditure dropped from GBP2.37bn in 2005 to GBP2.32bn in 2006. Quarterly comparisons show volumes for October to December 2006 down 4.6 per cent on the corresponding quarter last year.

Royal Mail officials remain bullish, however, despite the results.

Leonora Corden, head of market development at Royal Mail argues: “This is the result of companies across all sectors improving their targeting to create even more relevant and personal offers for their customers and prospects.”

The company cites a growing reliance on direct mail by a number of industry sectors, including building societies, charities, government, health, media and insurance. Also noticeable is a rise in the volume of direct mail sent to the 55-64 year old age group.

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RFID gives City Link customers real-time tracking

Posted by | Mar 20, 2007 | |

Delivery company City Link has installed 15,000 Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags on its parcel cages to improve efficiency and speed up its delivery services. The company now plans to work with clients to provide real-time tracking solutions.

The Wi-Fi based Active RFID solution was installed by AeroScout (a US company), and JDH Consultancy at City Link’s depots around the UK. The rugged tags manage the company’s dynamic inventory of ‘roll cages’, which house and protect its high-value parcels during transit.

At any moment in time, up to 300,000 parcels in 15,000 cages at 70 UK locations can be monitored and located in real-time from City Link’s National Distribution Centre in Wednesbury, West Midlands, over the City Link Cisco Wi-Fi network.

RFID technology has been available for a long time but the cost of the tags and implementation have made its use prohibitive for tracking small, low value items. The costs are reducing and its use in logistics and item tracking is continued to increase. Marks & Spencer can track individual items and a German bookstore is using the technology within boxes of books.

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