POSTAL NEWS
No 45-2020
Formulated by UNI AproPost and Logistics Sector
1. La Poste and its digital subsidiary Docaposte get involved in the Gaia-X project offering a European sovereign digital ecosystem and digital trust services.June 04, 2020.2. DHL: flexibility and pragmatism are needed to meet demand. June 04, 2020.
3. The installations of Posti’s
new printed mail sorting machines will commence in the fall.June 03, 2020.
4. APWU Statement on the Killing of George Floyd and the Continuing Struggle for Justice. June 01, 2020.5. U.S. Postal Service Provides Recommendations for Successful 2020 Election Mail Season. May 29, 2020. |
1. La Poste and its digital subsidiary Docaposte get involved in the Gaia-X project offering a European sovereign digital ecosystem and digital trust services
June 04, 2020
La Poste, through its digital subsidiary Docaposte, is committed
in the European Gaia-X project presented on Thursday 4 June by Bruno Lemaire,
France's Minister of the Economy and Finance, and Peter Altmaier, Germany's
Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy.
As a founding member of the foundation that
will lead the project, Docaposte is contributing its cloud know-how and its
experience in the implementation of technological solutions for digital trust.
As a universal exchange operator and trusted
third party, Le Groupe La Poste pays particular attention to the development,
in all its activities, of a trusted digital environment based on respect for
the principles of confidentiality, security and transparency in the use of
customer data.
As a player in the digital transformation of
businesses and the public sector, Docaposte has recognised know-how in the
application of European standards, such as the GDPR, in demanding markets such
as healthcare and banking. La Poste's digital subsidiary, the leading provider
of healthcare data, operates its own data centres in France and offers a chain
of trusted services consolidated by technological building blocks requiring a
high degree of security such as digital archiving and digital identity.
On the strength of its beliefs and expertise
in data management and protection, La Poste is committed to Gaia-X with the aim
of contributing to the implementation of a project guaranteeing European data
sovereignty and promoting, as part of the European Commission's data strategy,
the emergence of an infrastructure capable of eventually competing with the
most advanced solutions at the global level.
"As a long-standing trusted third party,
La Poste offers secure digital services, such as the La Poste Digital Identity,
the first electronic identity to be certified at the substantial guarantee
level by ANSSI, in line with the expectations of personal data protection. Our
contribution to the European Gaia-X project, which draws on the expertise of
our digital subsidiary Docaposte, is in line with our strategic commitment to trusted
digital and the sovereignty of the data that customers entrust to us."
said Philippe Wahl, Chairman and CEO of Le Groupe La Poste
Source: https://www.posteurop.org
2. DHL: flexibility and pragmatism are needed to meet demand
June 04, 2020
DHL Global Forwarding, Deutsche Post DHL Group’s air and
ocean freight specialist, is deploying its expertise to meet rapidly growing
demand for transport services in the Life Sciences & Healthcare
segment.
“We’re currently working faster than ever,” says Tobias
Schmidt, CEO DHL Global Forwarding in Germany. “Our employees are working
almost around the clock to get important deliveries to where they are urgently
needed. We’re currently seeing a strong shift in demand towards products and
goods needed in the fight against COVID-19.
“For example, for the past week, we have been transporting
around 100,000 COVID test tubes a day from China to Germany and the Czech
Republic for a customer specializing in medical accessories. We’re also still
transporting everyday industrial goods and products,” he continues.
“Flexibility and pragmatism are needed to meet demand as
quickly as possible. We have been using numerous charter flights to ensure that
our customers can maintain their supply chains despite the sharp decline in
availability among our commercial carriers.”
Bottlenecks in supplying medical equipment, stricter
controls at international borders, and the absence of airfreight capacity are
just some of the challenges facing the logistics industry during the pandemic.
However, thanks to its specialists, its worldwide network of
terminals, warehouses, and offices, and its technological infrastructure, DHL
Global Forwarding remains able to effectively maintain supply chains.
Despite the strained situation in air and ocean freight,
urgently-needed protective equipment, medicine, and SARS-CoV-2 test kits in
particular are still being transported.
Additionally, the capacities for complete trains on the New
Silk Road have almost doubled in recent weeks.
In ocean freight, DHL Global Forwarding is also offering its
customers business continuity solutions to avoid unnecessary transport costs
and delays. Many customers use these tailor-made solutions to ramp up their
business or production as quickly as possible the moment demand in the
manufacturing industry or in the retail sector increases again. The goods are
stored either in secured container hubs or warehouses near the destination,
giving customers fast and flexible access to their items.
DHL Global Forwarding also supports its customers when
existing options appear to be exhausted. Despite drastically reduced freight
capacities, DHL Global Forwarding was able to make resources available on short
notice to ensure good distribution practice (GDP) compliant transport of
medicine. Over three weeks, more than 100 pallets of temperature-controlled
medicine were delivered daily to China. Furthermore, a special unit load device
cover designed to control temperature during transport saved valuable time.
When it comes to medical goods and pharmaceutical products,
DHL Global Forwarding relies primarily on Frankfurt and Leipzig as its main
logistics hubs. In close proximity to the two airports, DHL Global Forwarding
operates state-of-the-art centers for transshipping medical products. Both
locations are ideal gateways for European imports and exports, with
temperature-controlled areas, dedicated GDP-compliant transshipment warehouses,
and IATA CEIV Pharma and TAPA A certifications for internationally operating
customers.
3. The installations of Posti’s new printed mail sorting machines will commence in the fall
June 03, 2020
Posti will receive three new printed mail sorting
machines that will be able to sort printed products faster as well as more
accurately and diversely than before. The plan is to locate the new sorting
machines in Oulu and Helsinki. Delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the
installations will begin in Helsinki. The cooperation negotiations pertaining
to the arrival of the new machines will commence on June 9th.
The three new machines are so-called MSM sorting machines that
are suited for diverse letter and publication sorting as well as sorting other
addressed items. The installations of the new machines will start
according to plan at the Helsinki postal center, which will receive two of the
new machines. The Oulu postal center will receive one machine. According to the
current estimate, all of the machines will be installed by the first quarter of
2021 at the latest. Down the line, printed mail will also be mechanically
sorted in Tampere and Kuopio, in addition to Helsinki and Oulu.
“With automation, publishers, for instance, can better track
the progress of their mailing batch in our network. Automation also helps us
direct addressed items to address clarification quickly, if necessary. For our
personnel, the machines are an important tool. The sorting machine quickly
sorts items into the delivery order, which means that the deliverer doesn’t
have to sort the items according to the mail recipient’s address to the same
degree as today,” says Sami Reponen, Production Director,
Postal Services.
The new machines will complement the network that currently
already includes six similar machines. The existing and coming machines can
cover the entire sorting need of Finland and operate as efficiently as possible
also in exceptional circumstances.
“For our customers, increased automation means increased
speed, additional services and the possibility to track mailing batches. At the
same time, our personnel will have at their disposal more modern sorting
machines that will sort items quickly in to the delivery order, reducing the
amount of manual sorting work in delivery. We will carefully discuss the effect
of the new machines during the negotiations,” says Sami Reponen.
When it comes to the effects of the new MSM machines, the
target group of the cooperation negotiations includes the basic delivery and
sorting personnel of Pirkanmaa and Satakunta, in
total 1012 employees, as well as the basic delivery and sorting
personnel in the north of Finland, in total 405 employees.
The planned changes may affect the personnel. The need for
personnel changes will be specified during the negotiations. According to the
current estimate, the changes would be implemented in the fall and during the
rest of 2020 as well as the first quarter of 2021.
The concentration of sorting supervisory work to the
Tampere postal center is also under review in the Pirkanmaa–Satakunta region
The aim is also to review the plan to concentrate sorting
supervisory work to the Tampere postal center in the Pirkanmaa–Satakunta
region. The potential effects thereof on the personnel will be specified during
the negotiations.
“Concentration of the supervisory work would translate into
more work for the Tampere postal center. On the other hand, it would mean less
work for sorting because carrying out supervisory work mechanically in the
postal center would mean delivery-ready bundles for mail delivery persons,”
explains Timo Honkasalo, Area Manager.
The changes would be visible to the customers as potential
route changes and different delivery times within one day of the completion of
the negotiations. They would be separately communicated closer to the time.
Source : https://www.posti.com/en/media/media-news/2020
4. APWU Statement on the Killing of George Floyd and the Continuing Struggle for Justice
June 01, 2020
The three General Officers
of the APWU, President Mark Dimondstein, Executive-Vice President Debby
Szeredy, and Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Powell issued the following statement:
Fair minded people from all
walks of life and political viewpoints are deeply disturbed and rightfully
outraged by the killing of unarmed and handcuffed African-American George Floyd
at the hands of four Minneapolis police officers.
George Floyd was pinned
face down on the ground with a knee on his neck for over eight minutes. Treated
less than human, it made no difference that Mr. Floyd repeatedly pleaded for
his life, “Please, I can’t breathe.”
Reflecting a long history
of oppression worsened with the recent rise of white supremacy emboldened from
the highest office of the land, this incident followed recent killings of
innocent African American people, while jogging (AhmaudArbery) or in their own
home (Breonna Taylor). Mostly peaceful but understandably angry protests have
erupted throughout the country.
Unions stand for good,
living-wage jobs and solidarity of all working people, respect for each other
and unyielding commitment to justice, fairness and equality in the workplace
and in our neighborhoods in which we live. Postal workers live and work in
every community across the nation, including the Minneapolis area. The people
of the country are standing with us in defense of the public Postal Service and
our good union jobs, and we must also stand with our communities’ demands for
justice. Martin Luther King Jr. put it so well: “Injustice anywhere is a threat
to justice everywhere.”
The APWU national
convention is the highest authority of our union. At the 2016 convention, 2000
delegates from around the country, and all races, unanimously supported a
“Black Lives Matter” resolution. It stated, “… the APWU will encourage its
members to participate in any rallies, petition drives or other actions pursued
by the campaign against racial discrimination and for transparency in
policing.”
In line with this
convention action and with human decency and compassion, with unity and
solidarity of all people and the continuing struggle for freedom and civil
rights, we encourage our members and locals to speak out, protest and demand
justice for George Floyd’s family and community as part of the broader struggle
of “liberty and justice for all.”
Let’s fight for a new day.
Whether a person is jogging, doing their jobs, birdwatching, driving, being arrested,
attending union meetings, or going to and from work, all human beings,
regardless of our race and the color of our skin, have the right to be treated
with respect and dignity and to life itself.
Source :https://www.apwu.org/news
5. U.S. Postal Service Provides Recommendations for Successful 2020 Election Mail Season
May 29, 2020
Today the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) released a letter that is being sent to local and state election officials and state party officials around the country. This letter highlights key aspects of Election Mail delivery processes — and ways to help educate the public on what to expect when using the mail to vote.
The letter, signed by USPS General Counsel and Executive Vice President Thomas J. Marshall, is a continuation of an ongoing outreach effort aimed at educating all interested parties about the Postal Service’s mailing requirements and services in advance of the 2020 elections.
“It is critical that the Postal Service’s delivery standards be kept in mind when informing voters how to successfully participate in an election using the mail,” says Marshall, noting the importance of this information “when state and local election officials are making decisions as to the establishment of deadlines and the means used to send a piece of Election Mail to voters.”
The letter and the accompanying Publication 632, State and Local Election Mail — User’s Guide, are intended to provide boards of election and other election officials the tools needed to make the upcoming elections more successful when voting by mail. These guides are a follow-up to the more extensive 2020 Official Election Mail Kit (Kit 600), which was distributed to 11,500 election officials in March. All of these materials are also available on the Postal Service’s Election Mail website, about.usps.com/election-mail/election-mail-resources.htm.
Publication 632 includes an overview of how to properly use the mail during the election process, the mailing standards of the Postal Service, postmarking guidelines and the specifics of military, diplomatic and overseas mailing instructions. The Postal Service has personnel ready to assist election officials with mailpiece design and everything else needed for a successful election cycle.
The letter also provides Postal Service recommendations on how to ensure the efficient and timely handling of mail pertaining to elections. The Postal Service recommends that election officials use First-Class Mail, which is typically delivered in 2 to 5 days, for all Election Mail and to allow one week for delivery to voters. USPS further recommends election officials use Intelligent Mail barcodes for all Election Mail. The Postal Service has designed an Intelligent Mail barcode identifier specifically for ballots, to increase mailpiece visibility within the processing system. The identifier can be used by both the Postal Service and the mailer to track ballot deliveries and returns.
The letter notes that voters should be made aware of the mail delivery standards and transit times both when requesting an absentee ballot be mailed to them and when deciding when to mail the ballot back to election officials. The Postal Service recommends that voters mail their ballots at least one week before the due date and that they should contact local election officials for information about the specific deadlines.
The Postal Service is proud of its role as an important component of the nation’s democratic process and remains committed to providing the resources needed to implement a successful election season.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
Source : https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2020
POSTAL NEWS
No 46-2020
Formulated by UNI AproPost and Logistics Sector
1. Emirates Post restarts Pakistani services.June 4, 2020.2. Post Office Report – CWU ‘disappointed’ at Government response.June 03, 2020.
3. PostNL and Pension Fund PostNL agree on
determination and conditions of final payment for transitional plans. June
02,2020.
4. FedEx announces grants for small businesses. May 29, 2020.
5.
International postal volumes have dropped 21% this
year. May 29, 2020.
|
1. Emirates Post restarts Pakistani services
June 4, 2020
Emirates Post has restarted mail, packet and parcel services
to Pakistan, one of its key South Asian markets.
All services covering economy mail, standard mail,
registered mail, standard packets, standard parcels and express parcels are
available with immediate effect.
They can be sent to the main commercial centers in Karachi
and Lahore, and other strategic regions including Peshawar, Rawalpindi,
Faisalabad and Quetta.
Emirates Post will use airfreight capacity to move shipments
to Pakistan and use Pakistan Post’s network to make the delivery.
Prices start at 47AED (US$12.80) for 1kg to 83AED (US$22.60)
for 5kg with shipping services taking 4-21 days.
2. Post Office Report – CWU ‘disappointed’ at Government response
June 03,2020
Yesterday, the Government responded to the key
improvement recommendations for the Post Office network made by the Business,
Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Select Committee.
The
Parliamentary Committee, which is elected from Members of Parliament of all
parties in the House of Commons, published a detailed Report last October,
based on the Inquiry that it held last year when all the various Post Office
stakeholders were summoned to give evidence and invited to enter written
submissions.
October’s
Select Committee Report contained specific recommendations to the Government on
the critical issues of Crown franchising, future public funding, Postmaster
remuneration and representation, and other aspects of the network, such as its
reach, density and revenue streams.
“Taken
together, as a package, the BEIS Select Committee Report proposals set out a
positive future for this vital public service – and most importantly, a robust
and realistic pathway which the Post Office should take,” explains Andy Furey,
CWU assistant secretary.
“It took on
board all of the various issues and challenges and set out ways and means by
which they could be addressed going forward.
“So, it was
frustrating,” Andy continues, “to see the official Government response, which
appears to ‘bat away’ the key recommendations.”
Unsurprisingly
the Government statement defends the Post Office’s policy for franchising,
argues that the franchising consultation process itself is acceptable, claims
that the public is satisfactorily served in terms of access and declines to commit
on future funding beyond the end of the current financial year.
“And in terms
of our call for negotiating rights and recognition for our Postmaster members,
the Government responds with praise instead for the NFSP,” said Andy, adding
that “at one point, the Government even says that the NFSP ‘effectively
challenges Post Office Ltd where necessary’.
“Postmasters
will find that particular hollow claim difficult to believe – especially as so
many have suffered victimisation and persecution from the Horizon scandal,
when the NFSP did absolutely nothing to support them at all, in fact they
totally backed the Post Office.”
Our general
secretary Dave Ward has already contacted the Government, and the union will be
meeting with Ministers shortly to urge the Government to rethink strategically
and to work collaboratively with the union for a more viable future.
And further
discussions will also be pursued with the new Chair of the BEIS Select
Committee Darren Jones (Bristol North West) to seek to build
the widest possible consensus behind the positive proposals set out in the
Select Committee Report.
Dave Ward
said: “The Government’s response to the Select Committee was disappointing,
however we have a vision for the future which we will keep pushing, until the
Post Office embraces a more progressive agenda for defending the network and
developing and growing products and services for the future.
“And that’s
what the CWU will do, alongside politicians of all parties, local communities
and other businesses who depend on vital Post Office services.”
Source : https://www.cwu.org/news/post-office-report-cwu-disappointed-at-government-response/
3. PostNL and Pension Fund PostNL agree on determination and conditions of final payment for transitional plans
June 02,2020
FY 2020 outlook for free cash flow improves
by €100 million
PostNL and Pension Fund PostNL have signed an agreement to
determine details and conditions of the final payment for transitional plans.
This results in a significant improvement in PostNL’s FY 2020 outlook for free
cash flow. Employees’ soft pension entitlements remain unchanged.
Based on the financing agreement with the
Pension Fund, the final payment for transitional plans at year-end 2020 was
determined on parameters as in Q3 2019, when interest rates were very low.
Taking into account the interests of all stakeholders, PostNL initiated
discussions with the Pension Fund on options for a solution to smooth the
impact of low interest rates in determining the final payment. It has now been agreed
that the maximum final payment will be €290 million. This is €10 million below
the initially determined amount. Should interest rates develop favourably, the
final payment could be lower.
PostNL will pay the Pension Fund around €205
million at year-end 2020. The remaining (at most) €85 million will be deferred
and paid in five annual instalments between 2021 and 2025. The funding costs of
soft pensions during 2020 will be reduced by around €5 million. Thus, the total
reduction in the cash contribution for transitional plans amounts to at least
€15 million.
Based on this agreement, PostNL now expects
free cash flow for 2020 to come in at between €(215) million and €(185) million
(previously anticipated at between €(315) million and €(285) million). The
reduction in cash contribution of at least €15 million will also have a
positive impact on PostNL’s net debt position.
Caution on forward-looking statements
Some statements in this press release are
’forward-looking statements‘. By their nature, forward-looking statements
involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on
circumstances that may occur in the future. These forward-looking statements
involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are outside
of our control and impossible to predict, and that may cause actual results to
differ materially from any future results expressed or implied. These
forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates,
forecasts, analyses and projections about the industries in which we operate
and management's beliefs and assumptions about possible future events. You are
cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which
only apply as of the date of this press release and are neither predictions nor
guarantees of possible future events or circumstances. We do not undertake any
obligation to release publicly any revisions to these forward-looking
statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release
or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as may be required
under applicable securities law.
Use of non-GAAP information
In presenting and discussing the PostNL Group
operating results, management uses certain non-GAAP financial measures. These
non-GAAP financial measures should not be viewed in isolation as alternatives
to the equivalent IFRS measures and should be used in conjunction with the most
directly comparable IFRS measures. Non-GAAP financial measures do not have a
standardised meaning under IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similar
measures presented by other issuers. The main non-GAAP key financial
performance indicator is normalised EBIT. Normalised EBIT is derived from the
IFRS-based performance measure operating income adjusted for the impact of
project costs and incidentals.
4. FedEx announces grants for small businesses
May 29, 2020
Delivery service company FedEx has announced
that it will be giving $1 million in grants to small businesses affected by the
COVID-19 crisis.
Businesses that receive the grant money will
be given $5,000 each, in addition to $500 worth of credits from FedEx Office,
FedEx has announced on its website.
The later money can be used for printing
banners, posters, floor graphics, custom-printed boxes and more, FedEx
officials said.
A total of 200 grants will be awarded.
Businesses may apply for the grant money, which began Monday, May 25.
“Many small businesses are hurting right now.
We know you’re putting your all into not just surviving but becoming more
creative and resilient than ever,” FedEx wrote online. “When the dust clears
from the current crisis, it’s the fearless innovation and tireless hard work of
small businesses that will light our way to a brighter future. “We want to
honor that spirit and show some love to small businesses to help you ride out
this storm. That’s why we’re committing to providing $1 million in grants for
small businesses in the U.S. Whether you’re making the move to selling and
shipping online or you’re ramping up your safety and cleanliness measures to
keep customers and employees safe, we want to help you keep moving forward.”
Eligible businesses must have been operating
for a least a year, have less than 50 employees and less than $5 million in
annual sales revenue for 2019. The businesses must also have shipped in the
past 12 months or plan to ship within the coming 12 months.
The grant money does not need to be paid
back. Businesses may apply between May 25 and June 12 at fedex.com/supportsmallgrants.
Those applying do not need to have an account
with FedEx. Winners selected for the grant money will be notified starting late
June through July. The money will be sent out in the same timeframe.
Source : https://www.springvillejournal.com/articles/fedex-announces-grants-for-small-businesses/
5. International postal volumes have dropped 21% this year
May 29, 2020
A new report by the Universal Postal Union (UPU), titled, “The
COVID-19 crisis and the postal sector” shows postal volumes dropping by 21 % in
2020. The steep decline is the largest seen by the UPU since it began recording
exchanges of electronic data between its 192 member countries in 2010.
“The Post’s relevance
has become clearer than ever as citizens reach out to them for essential
services as they remain in their homes. While postal operators around the globe
have continued to work diligently for their customers throughout the pandemic,
they have also experienced many set-backs caused by the very measures put in
place to stop the virus’ spread,” said UPU Director General Bishar A. Hussein.
According to the
data, which covers the period between 23 January and 14 May, international
postal volumes decreased by 21 % in 2020 compared to the same period last year.
Only one of every 2.1 items sent are arriving at their destination within the
same week, as opposed to 1.1 during normal times.
The report lists
transport disruptions, suspensions, capacity shortages and total stoppages, in
addition to the impact of the virus on workforce capacity, as major factors
blocking the supply chain. It also projects that negative income shocks on
households could have a role to play in declining volumes.
Researchers used
official postal statistics and indicators constructed from electronic data
interchange messages on postal shipments exchanged between countries to paint a
picture
In addition to the
obvious decline in volumes, the report predicts three possible outcomes for
postal operators around the globe, offering recommendations to help postal
operators and policymakers mitigate long-term impacts and harness potential
opportunities.
The first is a
pessimistic scenario in which Posts are unable to fully recover. The second and
most realistic scenario predicts that they will recover from the short-term
impacts of COVID-19, but continue to face declining letter post volumes.
The third possible
outcome presents a more optimistic scenario in which postal operators are able
to recover quickly and harness opportunities that would reverse long-term
volume declines.
Which scenario Posts
are most likely to face depends on a few important factors outlined in the
report, including supply, the resilience of postal supply chains, the duration
of public health measures taken against COVID-19, economic risk mitigation
measures, consumers’ disposable income, the adoption of digital alternatives,
and countries’ postal development.