This week’s bulletin contains the latest information about Italy, Korea (Rep.), Malta, Thailand, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
Italy
Start date: 2 December 2022
End date: 2 December 2022
Incident: strike
The designated operator of Italy, Poste Italiane, wishes to inform that a 24-hour strike, commencing at 00.01 CET on 2 December 2022, has been called by several unions involving all Italian airport workers, as well as ground handling and other companies.
While the impact on the handling of inbound and outbound airmail by the airmail units at Milano Linate and Milano Malpensa airports is expected to be limited, it cannot be excluded as the ground handling companies will be among those on strike.
Korea (Rep.)
Start date: 24 November 2022
End date: ongoing
Incident: strike
The designated operator of Korea (Rep.), Korea Post, wishes to inform that the Korean Public Service and Transport Workers’ Union has called a strike, commencing at 00.01 local time (UTC+9) on 24 November 2022.
As a consequence, Korea Post requests that other designated operators hold back all export volumes to be sent to Korea (Rep.) via surface/sea mail, with effect from 24 November 2022.
Delays are to be expected with regard to surface/sea mail that has already been sent.
Malta
Start date: 1 November 2022
End date: ongoing
Incident: industrial dispute
The designated operator of Malta, MaltaPost p.l.c., wishes to inform that, since 1 November 2022, it has been experiencing an industrial dispute with its last-mile delivery staff. This situation is affecting mail deliveries in both the domestic and international logistics networks.
Thailand
Start date: 13 September 2022
End date: 25 November 2022
Incident: disruptions due to flooding – back to normal
Further to incident bulletins 16.09.2022, 14.10.2022, 28.10.2022 and 11.11.2022, the designated operator of Thailand, Thailand Post, wishes to inform that, following the recent flooding, all postal operations have now resumed as normal in all areas.
Ukraine
Start date: 24 Februari 2022
End date: ongoing
Incident: update on the situation of postal operations
Further to incident bulletins 25.02.2022, 04.03.2022, 22.04.2022 and 28.10.2022, the designated operator of Ukraine, Joint Stock Company “Ukrposhta”, wishes to provide with an update on the current situation concerning postal services in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s infrastructure has suffered severe damage since 10 October 2022. In particular, a massive attack on 23 November 2022, which killed more than 10 civilians, seriously damaged numerous energy facilities across the country. Most Ukrainian cities lost power, and this in turn disrupted water and heating services, and mobile telephone and Internet connections. Repair teams have been working around the clock to fix the power infrastructure and gradually restore normal life in cities.
The work of Ukrposhta is greatly impacted by this situation. For more than a month, it has been working under strict power-saving conditions, including planned power cuts lasting from four to 12 hours, and emergency power cuts to stabilize the electricity system.
Ukrposhta’s post offices carry on working even during power cuts, accepting and handing out postal items, and uploading the associated data to the system later on, as soon as power and Internet access are restored.
Ukrposhta’s sorting facilities are equipped with electricity generators to ensure uninterrupted work, and the company aims to maintain all normal customs and sorting procedures. However, it is hard to ensure fast mail processing.
Even under such challenging conditions, Ukrposhta is doing its best to meet the established standards; however, delays in delivery and data transmission may be unavoidable.
United Kingdom
Start date: August 2022
End date: ongoing
Incident: update on strikes
Further to incident bulletins 14.10.2022, 28.10.2022 and 25.11.2022, the designated operator of the United Kingdom, Royal Mail, wishes to provide with updated information concerning industrial action in early December 2022. Postal services will be affected on the following dates:
04.00 on Friday, 9 December to 04.00 on Saturday, 10 December;
Sunday, 11 December from 00.01 to 20.00.
Royal Mail will implement extensive contingency plans (as follows) to minimize disruption during the industrial action and will continue to do all it can to support customers as far as possible:
All mails for the UK should continue to be sent as normal. For inbound air services, the London Air Mail Unit will be operational and will continue to accept and process all inbound arrivals. For inbound road services, the International Logistics Centre (ILC), the Heathrow Worldwide Distribution Centre (HWDC) and Parcelforce Worldwide’s Coventry International Hub will all remain open and fully operational;
Each of these sites will continue to carry out customs clearance and processing activities as usual. The UK’s delivery operations will be affected on days when strike action is taking place. Despite the contingency plans, it will not be possible to replace the daily efforts of the entire frontline workforce. Royal Mail will do what it can to keep services running, but there will be significant disruption on the days of the strikes;
All Union member countries and designated operators should therefore expect to see some delays in items sent for delivery in the UK;
With regard to exports from the UK, all Union member countries and designated operators will continue to receive export mails from Royal Mail Group, including Parcelforce, as usual. Export volumes may temporarily be lower, but arrivals will continue as normal.
Please visit www.royalmail.com/latest-news for up-to-date and detailed information on services.
