UNI Apro Post & Logistics
1 POSTAL NEWS No 70-2022
Formulated by UNI Apro Post and Logistics Sector
1.Australia Post and beyond blue team up for a mental health check-in. September 02, 2022.
2.The Post, a pillar of strong public service. September 01, 2022.
3.PostNL launches recruitment drive for parcel delivery staff. September 01, 2022.
4.NALC ballots to be printed, mailed. August 30, 2022.
5.UPS peak surcharges to affect large shippers expecting strong holiday demand. August 29, 2022
1.Australia Post and beyond blue team up for a mental health check-in September 02, 2022
To help Australians to check in and support
one another ahead of R U OK? Day, Australia Post is again teaming up with
Beyond Blue to make available three million free postcards which can be sent
free of charge to family and friends.
As well as a blank, prepaid postcard to send to family or friends, there’s also a tear-off part that contains helpful information about the importance of connection for mental health. In a statement issued today (2 September), Australia Post General Manager Community and Stakeholder Engagement Nicky Tracey said the postcards were a popular way to stay in touch when first launched in 2021 during lockdowns. “We were thrilled with the response to this wellbeing initiative last year. It was great to hear stories of people writing postcards for the first time in years and also the joy of finding a surprise message from a loved one in their letter box,’ said Tracey.
“This year, with many Australian households under cost-of-living and other pressures, this is a really simple way people can reach out to check in on loved ones or send messages of love and support.” Beyond Blue Chief Executive Officer Georgie Harman said the partnership with Australia Post played a significant role in sharing important mental health messages with the community. “Australia Post has delivered mental health information to more than 7 million households since our partnership began in 2020. This postcard campaign is another way to get people talking about mental health and supporting each other.” The postcards will be delivered to suburban and regional households and are also available at selected post offices around Australia.
Source: https://postandparcel.info/149864/news/australia-post-and-beyond-blue-team-up-fora-mental-health-check-in
2.The Post, a pillar of strong public service September 01, 2022
In
an interview with UPU News, Correo Argentino President Vanesa Piesciorovski
explains the essential role the Post has played in helping the government reach
people across the country’s 2.8 million square kilometres.
Last
year, Correo Argentino marked 250 years since the appointment of the first
postal worker to the region, the Spaniard Bruno Ramírez, who answered to the
Spanish crown in colonial times, explained Vanesa Piesciorovski president of
Correo Oficial de la República Argentina SA, commonly referred to as Correo
Argentino. “Many things have changed in two and a half centuries, but what has
remained in our country is the strategic role of the Post as a fully
state-owned enterprise,” she said. Since the pandemic, it has become clear
that, beyond delivering letters and packages, the Post is uniquely positioned
to carry out key government initiatives that help to connect not just urban
centres, but the farthest reaches of one the world’s largest nations, to
provide financial access to regions where banks do not operate, to become, in a
sense, a government centre for the residents of Argentina. “The pandemic had
enormous consequences globally, and in our country,” Piesciorovski said.
“However, for our company, it represented a huge opportunity to raise awareness
on the enormous value of our work. The density of our network, the widespread
national presence, the logistical capacity, and the commitment of our workers
made the difference.
Correo Argentino has more than 1,400 commercial branches, approximately 10 times more than the private companies operating there. “This enormous national presence has enabled Correo Argentino to play a key role in the execution of the national government’s public policies,” Piesciorovski said. The Post is present in 500 localities in which there is no state bank, so residents of these regions collect their pensions and other government support payments at post offices. It is this type of reach, this mission, that allows the Post to be instrumental in activities vital to the foundation of Argentina’s democracy, including carrying out the logistics for the national census and election. Legislative elections were held at the end of 2021, the first such elections during the pandemic. Correo Argentino took great effort to guarantee that the elections ran in accordance with all health and hygiene protocols to protect not only the health of voters, but also that of its staff and elections workers, she said. Some 63,000 workers participated in the last elections, a 19 percent increase over the 2019 elections. Additionally, the post saw a 35 percent increase in the number of vehicles used (8,534 up from 6,322). “Those mid-term elections represented a real challenge, given the sheer number of potential obstacles and the total lack of predictability as to how the pandemic would unfold when we started planning,” Piesciorovski said. “Fortunately, we were able to hold successful elections.” Additionally, the Post was vital to the government’s national census logistics process. Some 500,000 boxes were shipped to the Post’s 30 logistics centres and then parcelled out to 6,500 final destinations. The Post also plays an important role in the government’s public health strategy, providing logistics for the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, as well as other public health initiatives. In late December 2020, the first vaccine shipment arrived in Argentina. “This was an unforgettable experience because the government entrusted us with the national distribution,” Piesciorovski said. “We undertook the enormous responsibility of transporting ‘hope to all our inhabitants.’” The Post transported more than 55 million doses of the vaccine, and from then on, the importance of having a solid and committed national Post was abundantly clear, she said. “I will never forget the faces of the people who transported the first vaccines to the interior of the country, nor their colleagues who applauded when those doses went out for delivery,” she said. Correo Argentino also broadened its services to include digitization of documents in its five digitization centres at which it can process high-volume projects, which allowed it to enter into an agreement with the National Human Rights Secretariat to digitize 18,000 files relating to victims of state terrorism. By providing this service, the process of organizing information and searching evidence moves much faster, Piesciorovski said, which speeds up the process for victims.
“We were very proud to be able to participate in this process, and to add our standards of security, confidentiality and transparency,” she said. The Post’s mission is to serve all inhabitants with reliable products and services to ensure communication and exchange among people, businesses and institutions, Piesciorovski said. “This mission is not just an expression, it is our way of understanding our role and function in society,” Piesciorovski said.
Source : https://www.upu.int/en/News/2022/9/The-Post,-a-pillar-of-strong-public-service
3.PostNL launches recruitment drive for parcel delivery staff September 01, 2022
PostNL has unveiled plans to recruit thousands of parcel delivery staff over the next few yearsThe company intends to improve three elements in its way of working: launching as many permanent contracts as possible, initiating longstanding partnerships and supporting more climate-friendly delivery. The company aims to ensure that eventually at least half of all parcels will be delivered by employed staff, which currently number 1,900 and should grow to around 6,000. Meanwhile, delivery partners will be actively encouraged to grow, to further professionalize and increase the sustainability of their services. For parcel deliverers working at delivery partners, permanent contracts remain the standard as well. In 2015, all self-employed workers were invited to accept permanent contracts with PostNL. Collective labor agreements (CLAs) are the standard for all people working at and for the company, and all postmen and women are offered a permanent contract when they join. In addition, PostNL cooperates closely with sheltered workplace companies across the country to offer work to some 1,600 people who face challenges in the labor market. The company has also stated that the growth of the parcel market requires social developments and changes in terms of labor and sustainability, and also demands adjustments in the way PostNL works with its delivery partners. In turn, the company plans to support its 500 delivery partners to scale up. Reportedly, this is because PostNL thinks that larger companies typically have more leeway to invest in electrified transport, charging infrastructure and other climate-friendly measures. In addition, PostNL will help pay for the extra costs of electric parcel vans, offering a one-off bonus of €2,000 (US$1,900) per electric parcel van ordered in 2022.
Source : https://www.parcelandpostaltechnologyinternational.com/news/staffpersonnel/postnl-launches-recruitment-drive-for-parcel-delivery-staff.html
4.NALC ballots to be printed, mailed August 30, 2022
The National Election Committee, appointed at the Chicago National Convention to conduct the election of national officers for NALC, met on Aug. 17 to set the rules and procedures for the contested national and regional elections, as laid out in the NALC Constitution. It also was in Washington, DC on August 29 to hold the random drawing to determine the order of the names as they will appear on the ballot for each office.
Candidates for vice president, assistant secretary-treasurer, director of city delivery, director of safety and health, and 13 of the 15 national business agent (NBA) positions were unopposed and elected by consent at the Chicago convention. Two candidates were nominated from the floor for each of the following positions: president, secretary-treasurer, director of life insurance, director of health benefits, director of retired members, and NBAs for Regions 1 and 9. Three candidates were nominated from the floor for the position of executive vice president. Six candidates were nominated from the floor for three national trustee positions. The election will be conducted by mail ballot in accordance with the NALC Constitution. The Election Committee has retained the services of Survey and Ballot Systems of Eden Prairie, MN, to tabulate the ballots. The committee has also retained Mosaic, a print communications company located in Cheverly, MD, to prepare and mail the ballots. The committee will create the ballot for mailing. Official election instructions will be included with all ballots mailed to eligible NALC members. To be eligible to vote, a person must be a regular member of NALC and in good standing as of June 1, 2022. NBAs will be elected by the members in their respective regions. Beginning on Sept. 19 and continuing until completion, components of the election mailing will be printed. Starting on Sept. 26 and continuing through Sept. 30, ballots will be prepared, inserted into envelopes and mailed. Any active or retired member who does not receive a ballot by Oct. 7 is instructed that they must notify their branch officers. Those branches are instructed to immediately contact the NALC Membership Department to request a duplicate, replacement ballot. The deadline for branch officers to contact the Membership Department is 4 p.m. Eastern time on Oct. 11. Only a branch officer can request a duplicate ballot. Ballots must be received by 5 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, Oct. 21, to be counted. The counting of ballots will begin the following day. The results of the lottery selection determined the nominees will appear on the ballot in the following order:
President
▪ Brian L. Renfroe, Hattiesburg, MS Br. 938 ▪ David Noble, Washington, DC Br. 142
Executive Vice President ▪ Maureen Valadie, Central Florida Br. 1091 ▪ Kenneth R. Gibbs Jr., South Florida Br. 1071 ▪ Paul Barner, Roswell, GA Br. 4862
Secretary-Treasurer
▪ Cie Sharp, Long Island Mgd., NY Br. 6000 ▪ Nicole Rhine, Lincoln, NE Br. 8
Director of Retired Members
▪ Linda Kellam Mann, Minneapolis, MN Br. 9 ▪ Daniel Toth, Lorain, OH Br. 583
Director of Life Insurance
▪ William E. Boone, Greater East Bay, CA Br. 1111 ▪ James W. Yates, Long Island Mgd., NY Br. 6000
Director, Health Benefit Plan
▪ Matthew Webster, Cleveland, OH Br. 40 ▪ Stephanie Stewart, Central Iowa Mgd. Br. 352
National Trustees (three positions)
▪ Charles P. Heege, New York, NY Br. 36 ▪ Lawrence D. Brown Jr., Los Angeles, CA Br. 24 ▪ Dorothy Kay Hall, Wenatchee, WA Br. 1350 ▪ Sandra D. Laemmel, Detroit, MI Br. 1 ▪ Rolando Rodriguez, Indianapolis, IN Br. 39 ▪ Francisco Jose Cabrera, Greater East Bay, CA Br. 1111
Region 1 NBA
▪ Markeisha Lewis, Garden Grove, CA Br. 1100 ▪ Calvin Brookins, Van Nuys, CA Br. 2462
Region 9 NBA
▪ Eddie Davidson, Durham, NC Br. 382 ▪ Don Lyerly, West Coast Florida Br. 1477
The Election Committee, as appointed by President Fredric Rolando, is made up of Paul Roznowski, Royal Oak, MI Br. 3126 (chairman); Christa Abraham, Minneapolis, MN Br. 9; Eric Lomax, Jamaica, NY Br. 562; Rod Holub, Manhattan, KS Br. 1018; Delano Wilson, Silver Spring, MD Br. 2611; Antonia Shields, Birmingham, AL Br. 530; Ethel Ford, Houston, TX Br. 283; Tom Dlugolenski, Syracuse, NY Br. 134; Jeannette Triana, South Florida Br. 1071; Brian Wiggins, Seattle, WA Br. 79; and Andy Weiner, Jamaica, NY Br. 562.
Source : https://www.nalc.org/news/nalc-updates/nalc-ballots-to-be-printed-mailed
5.UPS peak surcharges to affect large shippers expecting strong holiday demand August 29, 2022
UPS announced its surcharges for the 2022 peak season on Friday, which will impact high-volume shippers expecting elevated home delivery demand during the holidays.
Beginning Oct. 30, customers billed for more than 20,000 packages any week after October 2021 will see a “Peak/Demand Surcharge” applied to certain UPS Air Residential, Ground Residential
and SurePost shipments, according to the carrier. The fee will be active until Jan. 14, 2023. The surcharge is applied on a weekly basis to all packages over 105% of the baseline volume for each service. The baseline volume is the customer’s average weekly volume from June 5 through July 2 for the applicable shipping service. But UPS will use the average weekly volume from Sept. 4 to Oct. 2 instead if it is less than 80% of the June-July period’s volume.
UPS will charge shippers the highest applicable surcharge they reach. For example, if a customer ships 175% of their baseline shipping volume for the Ground Residential service in a given week, they will be charged $2 for all packages that go above 105% in baseline volume. UPS is also raising its per-package surcharges for additional handling (from $3.50 to $6.50), large packages ($40 to $70) and packages in excess of its maximum shipping limits (no charge to $400) on qualifying customers. The new prices for these surcharges are active from Oct. 2 until Jan. 14, 2023. UPS’ surcharge reveal follows fellow parcel delivery giants FedEx and the Postal Service, which both announced cost hikes of their own. Amazon is also rolling out its inaugural peak season fee on its fulfilment services for third-party sellers.
Source : https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/ups-peak-surcharge-holiday-shippingdemand/63069
1.Posten opens logistics center UNI Apro Post & Logistics
1 POSTAL NEWS No 69-2022
Formulated by UNI Apro Post and Logistics Sector
1. Posten opens logistics center in Norway. September 02, 2022.
2. The financial results of Omniva were still affected by the war in Ukraine. September 01, 2022.
3. DHL partners with Fives to support its expansion in the UK. September 01, 2022.
4. Lights out at Swiss Post. August 31, 2022.
5. Andy Furey to POL members – ‘Your action is making a massive difference’. August 30, 2022.
in Norway September 02, 2022
Posten Norge (Norway Post) has opened a new logistics center in Agder in southern Norway that can handle around 20,000 packages a day.
Approximately 180 employees will work at the logistics center. The facility’s parcel sorting machine can handle around 5,000 parcels per hour. According to the company, this will be Posten’s largest facility in Agder and will distribute letters, parcels and goods to this area. The logistics center has achieved the ‘very good’ standard of the Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) because it was designed for sustainable energy and transport and created with environmentally friendly materials. The center uses water-borne heat and has solar panels. The company’s first results show that the energy from the solar panels has enabled the center to run self-sufficiently at times.
To future proof its operations, the company has designed the facility to operate with vehicles powered by renewable energy. The Posten group has ordered 65 electric trucks, four of which will be put into operation at the new logistics terminal by 2023. Around 38% of Posten’s vehicles currently run on renewable energy and the rest of the vehicle fleet will switch to renewable energy in the future. Tone Wille, CEO of Posten Norge, said, “We are now opening a modern logistics center that gives us greater capacity and contributes to a more efficient distribution of letters, parcels and goods in southern Norway. Among other things, we have a parcel sorting machine that has the potential to handle over 5,000 parcels per hour. In recent years, there has been strong growth in the volume of parcels we have handled from both individuals and business customers in Agder, and with our new logistics center we are equipped for further growth.”
Source : https://www.parcelandpostaltechnologyinternational.com/news/logistics/postenopens-logistics-center-in-norway.html
2.The financial results of Omniva were still affected by the war in Ukraine September 01, 2022
The half-year turnover and profit of the Omniva Group were below expectations, impacted by lower volumes in international services, rising energy prices, lower consumer confidence, and one-off costs.
In the first half of the year, the operating revenue of the group totalled 63.2 million euros, decreasing by 15.3 million euros compared to the same period last year. Revenues fell in all service groups with international services revenues falling most, affected by the crisis caused by the war between Ukraine and Russia. In the first half of the year, the operating expenses of the group totalled 62.5 million euros, decreasing by 3.7 per cent compared to the same period last year. The decrease in direct costs is linked to lower volumes of international shipments, while the increase in labour costs was driven by the wage increase at the primary level. The group earned a total operating profit of nearly 700 thousand euros, which was below expectations. Excluding the loss resulting from the closing down of the affiliated company Post11 OÜ (393 thousand euros), the operating profit of Omniva was 156 thousand euros, and including the impact resulting from the closing down of Post11, the overall result was a loss of 237 thousand euros. According to Mart Mägi, Chairman of the Management Board of Omniva, the volumes of international logistics and transit services, which have fallen due to the war between Ukraine and Russia, are slowly recovering. As a result of the sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus, Omniva ceased commercial cooperation with them, which has had a negative impact on the financial results of Omniva. ‘Despite the difficult situation in international services due to the war, we have quickly adapted to the changed market. In addition, we are actively looking for new transit markets and investing in new environmentally friendly technologies that will increase profitability in the coming periods,’ said Mart Mägi. In order to expand international operations and increase efficiency, more than 40 million euros will be invested in the construction of the most modern and environmentally friendly parcel sorting terminal in the region in Kaunas. This is the largest investment of the group to date and the new terminal will be used to sort both Lithuanian domestic and international shipments.
In Estonia, close cooperation with local authorities will continue to modernise the organisation of postal services, to support the wider implementation of the personal mail carrier service, and to install new parcel machines. This autumn, their total number will rise to over 300 in Estonia and nearly 950 in the Baltics. According to the latest survey, the parcel machines of Omniva remain the market leader with a market share of 39% (the share of the service provider in the number of times a parcel is received). Omniva stands out in the market with the widest network of parcel machines and is also a leader in terms of easy accessibility by car and the ability to track your shipment. The Vormsi virtual parcel delivery service was extended to several other small islands. The car fleet of Omniva will become more environmentally friendly – mail is delivered with 16 electric cargo bikes and 10 electric cars in different regions across Estonia. We are renovating our post offices and will find a partner for the reconstruction of the offices through a procurement. The first refurbished post office will be opened at the end of the year. Over the next three years, all post offices across Estonia will be refurbished. As a new option for international purchases, when shopping from Ali express across the Baltics, customers can now choose the nearest Omniva parcel machine to pick up their goods, supported by the wide network of parcel machines. At the end of June, the Ukrainian market was reopened for ordering from Aliexpress and Omniva, in cooperation with a local partner, is facilitating the delivery of these shipments to customers. In addition, Omniva signed contracts with a number of international customers for the delivery of parcels in the Baltics and other countries in the second quarter. The sale of Maksekeskus to a new strategic investor, Luminor Bank, was finalised and the joint undertaking Post11, which provides comprehensive international logistics solutions to emerchants, ceased operations on 1 July. Between March and August, Omniva delivered more than 70 tonnes of humanitarian aid from private individuals to Ukraine free of charge The unconsolidated interim report for the first half of 2022 has been published on the website of Omniva. Omniva (AS Eesti Post) is a state-owned company, the main activity of which is the provision of logistics services (parcel and postal services), digital services, and international transit services. The main activity of SIA Omniva and UAB Omniva LT is the provision of parcel machine and courier services in the Latvian and Lithuanian markets. UAB Omniva LT Sorting was established for the construction of a new logistics centre in Kaunas. The main area of activity of OÜ Finbite is information business services (e-invoices). The group employs 2,472 employees across the Baltics.
Source:https://www.omniva.ee/about_us/news/all_news/news/the_financial_results_of_omniv a were_still_affected_by_the_war_in_ukraine
3.DHL partners with Fives to support its expansion in the UK September 01, 2022 Intralogistics provider Fives has been chosen by DHL e-Commerce Solutions to automate its Coventry based mega-hub and support its growth plans across the UK.
e-Commerce Solutions recently announced a €560m investment plan across its UK ecommerce operation, DHL Parcel UK.
To meet this growth plan, Fives, a long-time DHL partner, will be in charge of automating the entire facility: a new 269,097ft2 hub, which will open in early 2023 at Segro Park Coventry Gateway, located south of Coventry Airport. The hub will have Fives intralogistics solutions installed which will allow for automatic sorting of items of different sizes and weights at a ‘high speed’. Richard Wenham, Head of Operational Support at DHL Parcel UK said: “We chose Fives for its ability to really understand our business and help us build a system that can handle the majority of the products we process.”
3Source : https://www.logisticsmanager.com/dhl-partners-with-fives-to-support-its-expansionin-the-uk/
4.Lights out at Swiss Post August 31, 2022
Swiss Post has decided that its largest illuminated signs will be illuminated for significantly less time at night.
About 60 large Swiss Post logos on parcel centres, mail centres and other buildings will be unplugged at 8pm starting from 1 September 2022. Swiss Post says this move will reduce excessive illumination of the night sky. Such excessive illumination can interfere with sleep patterns of animals - even the two-legged variety. Then there’s the attraction of insects. Until now, the large Swiss Post logos were switched off at 10pm. Previously, Swiss Post had converted the large illuminated logos to LED, reducing energy consumption by up to 80%. Swiss Post says this latest move is more about reducing unnecessary brightness in the night sky than achieving a reduction in energy consumption. In a quest to reduce energy consumption, Swiss Post installed motion sensitive intelligent lighting systems in many of its facilities.
Source: http://www.thepostalhub.com/blog/swiss-post-lights-out
5.Andy Furey to POL members – ‘Your action is making a massive difference’ August 30, 2022
Another weekend of strikes across the Post Office, pay offer increases, ACAS talks are on.
“Although the current offer is still not enough, the fact that it’s increased is 100 per cent down to the magnificent unity shown by members,” said CWU assistant secretary Andy Furey this morning. Post Office members took their fourth and fifth strike days over the weekend, with Crown Office, Supply Chain and Admin members walking out on Friday, Crown Office workers stopping again on Saturday, and Supply Chain and Admin grades on the picket lines again early this morning. Andy Furey spoke to us from the Birmingham site just after 6am, saying: “There’s already a few of us here and the mood is one of determination among the members I’ve spoken to so far. I’ve told them all how proud this union is of all of them for their fighting spirit. “What’s really making members angry is knowing that the managers will be getting their bonuses tomorrow – on the backs of the hard work our members have put in – while refusing to resolve pay for hard-working Counter staff, Supply Chain and Admin workers. “This current senior management team have got their priorities all wrong – they won’t be able to operate without the hard work and goodwill of our members and it’s about time they recognised that fact. Hopefully the increased pay offer form 3 per cent to 5 per cent is a sign that they’re moving in the right direction as a consequence of these strikes. “It’s still nowhere near enough – but it’s a step forward. And with the terrible news on Friday about energy prices, it’s more important than ever that we get that fair pay deal that our members deserve.” Speaking with reps from different parts of the UK this morning, the message was clear that strikers are staying solid, pleased to see an increased offer, but adamant that there needs to be more. London and Southern Area rep Rob Jones was at the London cash & valuables in transit depot cash centre as dawn broke, reporting: “The lights are on but there’s no-one in. All out at London’s CViT,” while up in Sheffield, depot rep Graeme Rooker was also out early, telling us: “It’s a little bit chilly up here – but we’re as solid as Sheffield steel. “It’s definitely the members’ action that has increased the pay offer. It’s still not enough, but it’s going in the right direction and we hope it’ll get resolved at ACAS,” he added.
And from over in Northern Ireland, Eddie Fitzsimmons said: “Here in Belfast we’re 100 per cent. It’s good that there’s some movement from POL on pay, but we need more than that and something needs to give for last year for us. “We’re sticking together and staying determined.” On Saturday, London and South East sector rep Clive Tickner was picketing London Bridge Crown Office with postal executive member Andy Hopping and Clive told us that he was “really proud of our POL members for the action they’ve taken. “We need a fair deal on pay for our members in recognition of the superb job they all do – and this union will keep on fighting and negotiating for this,” he said. Andy Furey added his praise to all POL members for “their unity in support of the union and of each other during these past few months. “As Clive rightly says, this union will keep on fighting hard and keep on negotiating hard. To our members I say we’re so proud of you all. Your action is making a real difference and it’s your action that is pushing management in the right direction on pay and towards the fair deal that you all so deserve.”
Source : https://www.cwu.org/news/andy-furey-to-pol-members-your-action-is-making-amassive-difference
