TNT NV said its TNT Post unit bought the remaining 49 pct interest in CendrisBSC Customer Contact BV from its joint venture partner, Dutch utility company Essent.
No financial details were disclosed.
Cendris BSC focuses on call center activities, including customer service, helpdesks and telemarketing for businesses and consumers. CendrisBSC operates nine centres in the Netherlands and one in Germany, employing some 3,400 people.
Read MoreThe U.S. Postal Service has launched a new Global Business group to help mailers expand their international reach through customized, flexible international shipping solutions — and increase the Postal Service’s USD 1.9 billion annual share of the international shipping market at the same time.
Paul Vogel, USPS Global Business Managing Director and Senior Vice President said the time is right for international expansion. In addition to extensive market analysis, the new team consulted with customers, integrators, consolidators and national posts around the world, and built the Global Business group to be responsive.
Vogel said the Postal Service will build on its domestic successes in work sharing, discounts and outsourcing and apply them to the international market.
The new Global Business team consolidates all postal international efforts into one unit — operations, transportation, finance, planning, information technology, account management and postal relations — making it easier for customers to work with the Postal Service for both inbound and outbound international shipping.
Last year the Postal Service collected, processed and delivered more than 793 million pieces of international mail, generating USD 1.9 billion in revenue.
Read MoreWith the introduction of R2-D2 mailboxes and the directive to remove all clocks from Post Offices nationwide, the U.S. Postal Service has certainly provided some lighthearted news stories of late.
But there’s a much larger news item that’s been ignored — the Postal Service’s recent contract negotiations with its labor unions. These negotiations have an enormous impact on the financial health of the USD 73 billion government agency — as well as on rank-and-file postal workers.
It’s a shame that these negotiations fly under the media’s radar. By staying out of the headlines, union leaders have avoided scrutiny as they pursue an agenda devoted to preserving membership numbers first, a strategy which can run counter to the interests of both the current membership and the Postal Service itself.
Most USPS labor contracts now include guaranteed annual raises, either in the form of a traditional pay raise or a cost-of-living adjustment. The latest mail handlers’ contract stipulates an average annual raise of 1.1%, while the contract of the American Postal Workers Union, which represents clerks and support staff, includes two similarly small raises over the four-year life of the contract.
In addition, most contracts limit postal management’s labor flexibility, meaning that workers cannot be laid off, even if there’s nothing for them to do. This labor inflexibility also includes strict limits on the number of temporary workers, who tend not to be union members.
USPS management has generally obliged its unions’ demands without much of a fight. But despite the success of the postal unions in securing small but guaranteed raises, it’s actually the union leadership that benefits the most, while postal workers get a raw deal.
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has launched a new Global Business group to help mailers expand their international reach through customized, flexible international shipping solutions — and increase the Postal Service’s USD1.9 billion annual share of the international shipping market at the same time.
Vogel said the time is right for international expansion. In addition to extensive market analysis, the new team consulted with customers, integrators, consolidators and national posts around the world, and built the Global Business group to be responsive.
Vogel said the Postal Service will build on its domestic successes in work sharing, discounts and outsourcing and apply them to the international market.
The new Global Business team consolidates all postal international efforts into one unit — operations, transportation, finance, planning, information technology, account management and postal relations — making it easier for customers to work with the Postal Service for both inbound and outbound international shipping.
Last year the Postal Service collected, processed and delivered more than 793 million pieces of international mail, generating USD1.9 billion in revenue.
Read MoreDialog between mailers and the U.S. Postal Service is key if the mailing industry is going to successfully navigate new roads that have barely been mapped.
This was a key message from Postmaster General John E. Potter in his keynote address at the National Postal Forum yesterday. Mr. Potter was referring to the new postal law that took effect on Dec. 20 that changes the role of the agency and the Postal Regulatory Commission. Under the law, the PRC must write a new set of rules on how to establish mail rates; ensure compliance with the new rules; act on complaints about postal rates and poor mail delivery; review whether mail delivery is meeting the needs of the nation; and, if necessary, use subpoena power to get information from the Postal Service.
Mr. Potter also discussed how mailers and the USPS have to work together to mitigate some of the larger rate increases that they face. Rate increases go into effect May 14 for most mailers.
Mr. Potter also addressed the do-not mail legislation that has popped up in more than a dozen states.
“The postal service, obviously opposes these legislative efforts,” he said. “[Despite the withdrawal of bills in four states,] you can never be sure how the legislative process is going to play out. So, we need to focus on the issues spurring these legislative initiatives. Mail that reaches a home where it’s not welcome is not a good use of anybody’s time or resources. And it can turn the recipient off mail.”
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