Word: postally
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Whether a privately owned British Telecom will be much of an improvement over the state-owned company is debatable. British Telecom was one of the first in Europe to divorce its telephone system from antiquated postal and telegraph services. But, say critics, the company is still run inefficiently, with too many employees (240,000) and too much obsolete equipment. Last week, though, naysayers were being ignored by would-be shareholders, some of whom were mortgaging their houses to buy the stock...
When the U.S. Postal Service absolutely, positively has to increase its revenues, the process it must go through is not exactly overnight delivery. First its eleven-member board of governors makes a proposal, which is then considered by an independent rate-review commission. The commission's findings in turn are subject to renegotiation by the board if the two groups differ. Last week the middle step in that bureaucratic do-si-do occurred. The commission recommended a package of rate hikes that will almost certainly boost the price of a first-class postage stamp from 20? to 22? early...
...commission's recommendation was somewhat less than the amount sought by the board, which wanted to raise the price of a first-class stamp to 23?. The board can try to live within the means suggested or seek to get the decision changed. Though the Postal Service has recorded surpluses for the past two years, Postmaster General William Bolger warned that an additional $3.2 billion in new revenues will be required to offset rising costs next year. One factor sure to influence the board's eventual decision is the outcome of an acrimonious dispute with postal unions, which...
...week after negotiations broke down on a new contract with unions representing 600,000 postal workers, the U.S. Postal Service last week imposed a two-tier wage system to reduce costs. Under the plan, which Morris Biller, president of the American Postal Workers Union, denounced as a "provocative, union-busting tactic," newly hired workers will be paid about 20% less than those already on the job. Letter carriers, for instance, will start at $17,352, compared with $21,511 for workers hired earlier. The U.S.P.S. takes on about 40,000 workers every year...
When it absolutely, positively has to be there, overnight delivery may not be soon enough. So Federal Express, which pioneered next-day private postal service, is now promising even greater speed. Last week the Memphis-based company launched ZapMail, its long-awaited version of electronic mail. For as little as $25 for a missive of five pages or less and up to $50 for a maximum of 20 pages, Federal Express will zap letters and documents across the U.S. within two hours...