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☆ UK's Royal Mail pauses access to online service after glitch
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SummarySummary Companies Customers could see information on other users' ordersClick and drop website temporarily disabledRoyal Mail says fix "highest priority"Nov 1 (Reuters) - Royal Mail on Tuesday temporarily stopped access to its online postage and parcel tracking service after reports some customers were able to see information on other users' orders, the British company said. The problem seems to have started around 1300 GMT, according to a website tracking the developments, but Royal Mail, owned by International Distributions Services (IDSI.L), did not give details of how many customers' data may have been compromised nor how long it might take to bring the website back online. "We fully understand and apologise for the inconvenience caused by this. Royal Mail's "click and drop" service allows customers to pay for postage online, print labels, and track parcels and posts once they have been dropped off, and is used by individuals and businesses. Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Royal Mail's largest labour union rejects new conditional pay offer
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Ajose Koilparambil | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) last week agreed to engage in talks through arbitration to resolve the months-long pay dispute and on Sunday the CWU withdrew its planned strike action in Britain in the next two weeks. Royal Mail's latest offer includes a 7% salary increase over two years, plus a lump sum payment of 2% of pay this year, but was subject to CWU agreeing to several changes including to Sunday working, start times and flexible working. The CWU, which represents more than 115,000 postal workers at Royal Mail, rejected the offer and said it would vote to take further strike action. "It (the offer) includes more unacceptable changes and a derisory 7% two-year pay offer that is well below projected inflation for both years," the CWU said in a statement. Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and David EvansOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ South Korea's deadly Halloween crush was avoidable, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Joyce Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

District authorities for Yongsan, where Itaewon is located, discussed measures to prevent illegal drug use and the spread of COVID-19 during the Halloween weekend, according to a district press release. But there were only 137 police officers in Itaewon at the time, the city of Seoul said. Moon Hyeon-cheol, a professor at the Graduate School of Disaster Safety Management at Soongsil University, said this type of crush had the potential to happen in any populous city. "We need to take this tragedy and learn to prepare for the risk of disaster," he said. Reporting by Joyce Lee; Additional reporting by Hyonhee Shin and Soo-hyang Choi; Editing by Edwina GibbsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Royal Mail workers' union withdraws November strike plan in UK
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Oct 30 (Reuters) - The Royal Mail's largest labour union, the Communications Workers Union (CWU), has withdrawn its planned strike action in Britain in the next two weeks, the company said on Sunday. The company and the union have talks planned through the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) on Monday. The union last month called for 19 days of strikes spread across October and November against Royal Mail. Royal Mail has been in a tussle with the CWU over pay for months and has said it is losing 1 million pounds ($1.11 million) a day due to strike action. The company said this month said it could cut up to 10,000 jobs and warned of more layoffs if planned strikes go ahead.

☆ Analysis: Wages, not yen, key to when Japan shifts away from ultra low rates
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Leika Kihara | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Japan to finally see a positive wage-inflation cycle kick off," said one of the sources. Were the BOJ to tweak YCC, the most likely first step would be either to hike the 10-year yield target, or widen the implicit 50-basis-point band set around it. LOW RATES NOT FOREVERThe BOJ rules out using rate hikes to stem yen falls, as Japanese law gives the government, not the central bank, jurisdiction over exchange-rate policy. In April, dovish board member Asahi Noguchi said wages must rise by nearly 3% for the BOJ to tweak its ultra-loose policy. Yields on super-long bonds have risen to multi-year highs despite the BOJ's aggressive bond buying, casting doubt on the effectiveness of YCC.

☆ Protests paralyse Tunisian town after migrant deaths
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TUNIS, Oct 18 (Reuters) - A southern Tunisian coastal town was paralysed by protests on Tuesday amid growing anger over the fate of people who drowned in a migrant shipwreck last month, with some buried in unmarked graves. Images showed the streets of Zarzis packed with protesters chanting anti-authority slogans with shops and government institutions closed. Nothing," he said, adding that Walid felt he had no future in Tunisia despite being an excellent student. Protests began in Zarzis this month after a boat believed to be carrying 18 migrants disappeared. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Tarek Amara, writing by Angus McDowall, editing by Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Analysis: Despite tax U-turn, UK's Hunt still faces tough budget choices
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( William Schomberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - The screeching about-turn on tax cuts by finance minister Jeremy Hunt on Monday will not spare Britain from painful spending cuts and new tax hikes to fix the country's public finances. Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, a think-tank, said Monday's tax cuts U-turn was relatively simple compared with the balance Hunt must strike between more tax increases and spending cuts over the next two weeks. Hunt said the tax U-turns announced so far would raise about 32 billion pounds a year in extra revenues. That was 40 billion pounds above the level needed to cut debt as a share of the economy which currently is about 97%. "With tens of billions of spending cuts still to come, and a new energy support package needing to be devised, many of Jeremy Hunt's tough choices still lie ahead," Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, said.

The agreement is also seen as critical to unlock bilateral aid from country donors that wanted the reassurance of an IMF programme that Tunisia would carry out reforms to put its finances on a more sustainable footing. "The agreement is an important step for Tunisia's public finances and will allow Tunisia to borrow from some bilateral sources," a senior Tunisian official said on condition of anonymity. It is subject to the approval of the IMF board, which is scheduled to discuss Tunisia's programme request in December, the fund said. The IMF warned that in the near term growth would likely slow with more pressure on inflation and on the external and fiscal balances. The government negotiated for months with the IMF and had to also to sign an agreement with the UGTT to limit public sector wage increases over the next three years.

☆ Royal Mail could cut 5,000-6,000 jobs by next August
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 14 (Reuters) - Royal Mail could cut as many as 5,000 to 6,000 jobs by the end of August next year, parent company International Distributions Services (IDSI.L) said on Friday, as the British company remains locked in a bitter dispute with its largest labour union. The Communication and Workers Union (CWU), representing 115,000 Royal Mail postal workers, have held strikes in September and early October, and have threatened more strikes this month and next. Royal Mail would post an adjusted operating loss of around 350 million pounds this year, after taking into account the hit from the strikes that have taken place or are scheduled, International Distributions Services forecast. The company said there could be more job losses at Royal Mail, its UK business, if strikes went ahead during the holiday period. Royal Mail, the former British postal monopoly recently changed the name of its holding company to International Distributions Services from Royal Mail Plc.

☆ French government ready to intervene to lift refineries blockade - ministers
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Benoit Van Overstraeten | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A flag of French CGT labour union flutters as workers on strike gather in front of the TotalEnergies oil refinery in Gonfreville-l'Orcher, France, October 5, 2022. REUTERS/Benoit TessierPARIS, Oct 11 (Reuters) - The French government stands ready to intervene to break the deadlock in the weeks-long refinery strike that have left a third of the country's fuel stations running short, government ministers said on Tuesday. "We must find an agreement in the coming hours," French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told French radio. Both Le Maire and French government spokesman Olivier Veran added the government could intervene to end the blockades. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Sudip Kar-GuptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Factbox: Government measures to ease inflation pain
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

In August, the government offered debt relief to former students and unveiled the $430 billion "Inflation Reduction Act". * Canada on Sept. 13 announced a C$4.5 billion ($3.29 billion) relief package. * Poland will spend over 30 billion zlotys ($6.07 billion) to freeze power prices and support companies. * The Czech Republic will cap electricity and gas prices next year. * Croatia will cap electricity prices from Oct. 1 until March.

☆ Factbox: How governments are trying to ease inflation pain
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

* Mexico will raise the minimum wage by 20% next year after an agreement was reached between employers, labour representatives and the government. EUROPE:* European Union countries are racing to reach a deal on a gas price cap by Dec. 13. The bloc's members are considering a slightly lower gas price cap than the one proposed by the European Commission, documents seen by Reuters showed. * Slovakia will spend 6 billion euros to cap energy prices for households next year. * Tunisia's government in September signed a deal with a major labour union to raise public sector pay and the minimum wage.

☆ Volkswagen focuses on regions to reduce supply chain vulnerability
▼ + stars: | 2022-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Aly Song/File PhotoBERLIN, April 19 (Reuters) - Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) said on Tuesday that a new growth plan would aim to reduce its vulnerability to the effects of global conflicts, such as supply chain disruption and rising prices, by divesting more power to its regions and brands. "The latest geopolitical changes and increased block-building have been exposing our global vulnerability, particularly with regards to the U.S.," Volkswagen Chief Executive Herbert Diess said in a LinkedIn post. read moreVolkswagen warned last week that it was feeling the impact of rising prices and supply chain bottlenecks, with deliveries in March down 37.3% from last year. read moreMercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE) Chief Technology Officer Markus Schaefer said last week that the German carmaker was also tightening its supply chains in light of global bottlenecks. Diess first announced a reshuffling of responsibilities at Volkswagen last December, after weeks of clashes between the CEO and labour unions over his leadership.

☆ Hundreds of flights cancelled in Germany as security staff strike over pay
▼ + stars: | 2022-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The walkout by security staff has resulted in a high three-digit number of flight cancellations, German airports association ADV said. Some 160 of them were at Duesseldorf airport, accounting for more than half of the planned 290 departures and arrivals, the airport said. At Cologne/Bonn, 94 out of 136 flights were called off, and Berlin airport's website also showed many cancelled flights. Tuesday's walkout will hit Germany's busiest airport, Frankfurt, which handled around 2.1 million passengers last month. Labour union Verdi is demanding that employers raise the wages of airport security staff by at least 1 euro an hour for the next 12 months and that staff in different parts of Germany earn the same.

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