Tag: UK

UK union to announce result of strike ballot on DHL takeover of NHS logistics

Posted by | Sep 11, 2006 | |

Public services union Unison is to announce the results of a ballot for industrial action in protest over the takeover of NHS logistics by Deutsche Post AG unit DHL.

The strike could involve 1,000 workers, furious over the private outsourcing supply contract worth 1.6 bln stg.

Unison leader Dave Prentis said he would be seeking a judicial review of the way the contract was awarded.

If approved, the action could be the first in a series of major industrial protests by civil servants over government reforms of public services.

Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, warned of a strike ballot within weeks among 280,000 civil servants over job and pay cuts and privatising services.

‘Time is running out for government, who have failed to give guarantees over compulsory redundancies and deteriorating services, as they plough on regardless in cutting civil service jobs,’ he said.

‘Added to this you have a backlog of over 200 pay deals yet to be settled because of the chancellor’s intention to drive down pay among some of the lowest paid, many of whom earn as little as the minimum wage.’

Chancellor Gordon Brown has mounted an intense campaign to keep public sector wage deals to 2 pct or less as he fears big wage rises for Britain’s civil servants will fuel inflation and harm his spending plans.

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1 Postcomm consults on zonal pricing by Royal Mail

Posted by | Sep 11, 2006 | |

Postcomm, the independent postal services regulator, has today published a document seeking views on the issues that it should take into account when it assesses proposals by Royal Mail to charge large mailers different rates depending on where in the UK their mail is delivered. (Royal Mail calls this zonal pricing.)

Royal Mail made an application to Postcomm in July which proposes to introduce zonal pricing to certain bulk mail products used by the largest mailers, such as banks, utilities, advertisers, charities and government. At present Royal Mail charges these large mailers the same “one price goes anywhere” rate. Royal Mail says that introducing zonal pricing for some bulk mail products would help bring its prices more closely into line with its costs. Royal Mail wants to be able to charge less than at present for areas where it is cheaper to deliver and charge more for areas where it is more costly to deliver. Such changes cannot be implemented without Postcomm’s prior approval.

Royal Mail’s application does not affect any other postal products, including the “one-price-goes-anywhere” stamp available to the public – a core part of the universal postal service commitment – or those business mail services that are also included in the universal service (Cleanmail – first and second class – and Mailsort 1400 – first and second class).

Postcomm will evaluate carefully the views of interested parties in response to the document published today. In addition, when it has obtained from Royal Mail all the information necessary to make a full assessment of the application, Postcomm will conduct a further consultation about its assessment of whether or not it is minded to accept it.

Notes for editors

Royal Mail has applied to introduce zonal prices for these bulk mail products:

Mailsort 120 – first and second class, OCR and CBC
Mailsort 700 – first, second and third class
Mailsort 1400 – third class
Presstream – first and second class
Walksort – first and second class
Most of Royal Mail’s business tariffs are currently the same, regardless of delivery location. Royal Mail already applies zonal pricing to some of its “access” agreements, under which it delivers mail “the final mile” for large customers and other postal operators.

Printed copies of Zonal pricing by Royal Mail (pdf, 142KB) are available from Postcomm at 6 Hercules Road, London, SE1 7DB. Responses, which should go to Tony Spencer, are requested by 10 December 2006.

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Postcomm consults on zonal pricing by UK Royal Mail

Posted by | Sep 11, 2006 | |

Postcomm, the independent postal services regulator, has today published a document seeking views on the issues that it should take into account when it assesses proposals by Royal Mail to charge large mailers different rates depending on where in the UK their mail is delivered. (Royal Mail calls this zonal pricing.)

Royal Mail made an application to Postcomm in July which proposes to introduce zonal pricing to certain bulk mail products used by the largest mailers, such as banks, utilities, advertisers, charities and government. At present Royal Mail charges these large mailers the same “one price goes anywhere” rate. Royal Mail says that introducing zonal pricing for some bulk mail products would help bring its prices more closely into line with its costs. Royal Mail wants to be able to charge less than at present for areas where it is cheaper to deliver and charge more for areas where it is more costly to deliver. Such changes cannot be implemented without Postcomm’s prior approval.

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Mail service in rural areas

Posted by | Sep 8, 2006 | |

The Royal Mail has made significant strides in recent years, but faces many more testing times as it gears up for the challenge from private operators entering the postal market.

However the line has to be drawn somewhere in terms of levels of service, and the apparent idea that some rural customers will be deemed as too rural to receive deliveries is a step too far.

The Royal Mail is a lifeline service for those who live in the remotest parts of the country, and to abandon these customers because of where they live is unacceptable. One has to wonder who dreamed up a proposal which would see anyone living a 15-minute round trip off the beaten track jettisoned from the delivery round.

It is akin to the local police pulling the plug on rural crime or the power companies pulling down the electricity cables. Those who choose to live in remote areas understand it will restrict their access to services, but they should still get the basic package, and mail through the letterbox should be part of that.

The Government must ensure that the Royal Mail’s desire to make itself a lean organisation is not achieved at the expense of customers in the far-flung corners of Scotland.

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DHL freezes the way we live now.

Posted by | Sep 8, 2006 | |

The NHS has no doubt made an excellent choice in awarding a 10-year, Pounds 1.6bn contract to DHL to handle its purchasing and delivery of everything from catheters to paper clips.

DHL is, of course, a fearless logistics group that delivers to Afghanistan, Iraq and North Korea. Only problem is that it sometimes refuses to venture into scarier places such as . . . east London.

Not-so-intrepid DHL Express admits it recently decided against sending its vans to Canning Town, which lies within walking distance of Canary Wharf’s gleaming towers. What, one wonders, is the current danger – kids back from summer hols or home games at nearby West Ham?

Fortunately the NHS contract has gone to a separate division – DHL Logistics. Let’s hope it can pluck up courage to bring supplies to hospitals and GP surgeries in the ‘hood.

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