Belgium
Start date: 9 November 2022
End date: 10 November 2022
Incident: general strike
The designated operator of Belgium, bpost, wishes to inform that the major Belgian trade unions have called a 24-hour general strike, commencing at 00.01 CEST on 9 November 2022.
This industrial action will affect letter-post and parcel-post deliveries, as well as bpost’s domestic and international logistics network.
Road blocks are expected, especially in industrial areas. Therefore, bpost’s facilities will most likely not be reachable by road, and bpost will not be in a position to accept and process inbound arrivals, nor to process and dispatch outbound volumes.
Furthermore, as this strike will also involve ground handlers and other airport and airline personnel, the handling of inbound and outbound airmail dispatches at Brussels Airport is expected to be disrupted.
As a consequence, designated operators are kindly requested to hold back their export volumes for all categories of mail (letter-post, parcel-post and EMS items, as well as open and closed transit services) scheduled to arrive in Belgium on 9 November 2022.
El Salvador
Start date: 11 October 2022
End date: 22 October 2022
Incident: heavy rainfall - back to normal
Further to Incident Bulletin 14.10.2022, the designated operator of El Salvador, Correos de El Salvador, wishes to inform that the heavy rainfall has ceased and postal services have returned to normal.
Germany
Start date: 27 January 2022
End date: ongoing
Incident: covid-19 - challenges in delivering letter-post items
Further to Incident Bulletin 28.01.2022, the designated operator of Germany, Deutsche Post, wishes to inform that, owing to increasing COVID-19 infections among its staff and severe shortages on the labour market, it is currently encountering challenges in delivering letter-post items in line with its high quality standards. These challenges are mainly seen on a local or regional rather than nationwide level but may affect different parts of Germany.
Deutsche Post is working hard to limit the effects on quality of service; currently 80% of letters are delivered the next working day, with more than 95% being delivered after two working days.
Portugal
Start date: 31 October 2022
End date: 2 November 2022
Incident: strike
CTT - Correios de Portugal, wishes to inform that there will be a strike in the CTT in the period of:
• October 31 - Monday – 24 H (0h00 until 23h59)
• November 2 - Wednesday - 24 H (0h00 until 23h59)
As per the strikes seen to date, CTT - Correios de Portugal will deploy its contingency plans that have meant it has been able to keep its OE’s and its airmail unit operational.
Sweden
Start date: 25 March 2022
End date: 21 October 2022
Incident: full resumption of mail services to and from Belarus and the Russian Federation
Further to incident bulletins 01.04.2022 and 27.05.2022, the designated operator of Sweden, PostNord Sverige, wishes to inform that mail services to and from Belarus and the Russian Federation have now resumed in full.
As of 21 October 2022, PostNord Sverige is once again forwarding and accepting all postal items (letter-post, parcel-post and EMS items) to and from Belarus and the Russian Federation.
Thailand
Start date: 13 September 2022
End date: ongoing
Incident: disruptions due to flooding – update
Further to incident bulletins 16.09.2022 and 14.10.2022, the designated operator of Thailand, Thailand Post, wishes to provide with an updated list of the postcode areas that are still affected by flooding:
12XXX, 13XXX, 14XXX, 15XXX, 16XXX, 17XXX, 18XXX
24XXX, 25XXX
32XXX, 33XXX, 34XXX
44XXX, 46XXX
60XXX, 61XXX, 66XXX
73XXX
Meanwhile, the following areas are back to normal:
10XXX, 11XXX
21XXX, 26XXX
30XXX, 31XXX, 35XXX, 36XXX
40XXX, 41XXX, 42XXX, 45XXX
50XXX
62XXX, 63XXX, 64XXX, 65XXX, 67XXX
72XXX
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 and 22.04.2022, the designated operator of Ukraine, Joint Stock Company “Ukrposhta”, wishes to provide with an update on the current situation with postal services.
The country’s infrastructure has suffered severe damage. In particular, attacks on the power grid and local energy facilities are necessitating rolling power cuts lasting from one to four hours. In some cases, following a direct missile strike, power may be cut off for several days in certain areas.
Ukrposhta is working to adapt to these difficult conditions as follows:
In areas without active hostilities, all Ukrposhta post offices will remain open and will work in hybrid (offline/online) format.
Even in case of short-term (up to 24 hours) power and Internet/communications cut-offs in a specific post office, Ukrposhta employees will hand out postal items and pay out money orders, and upload the delivery data into the system at a later stage, once power and Internet access are restored.
Likewise, Ukrposhta will accept postal items and money orders at such post offices and transfer them to the logistics network for transportation, and upload all data into the system 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.
Operationally, Ukrposhta will do its best to meet the established standards; however, there may be delays in the timely transmission of the data.
In case of longer power cuts in certain regions, Ukrposhta will act as the situation dictates, in consultation with the Government and Armed Forces of Ukraine, making every effort to continue functioning even in such challenging conditions.
United Kingdom
Start date: August 2022
End date: ongoing
Incident: update on strikes
Further to Incident Bulletin 14.10.2022, the designated operator of the United Kingdom, Royal Mail, wishes to provide with updated information concerning rolling postal strikes in November 2022. The strikes will affect postal services on the following dates:
04.00 on Wednesday, 2 November to 04.00 on Thursday, 3 November – all network operations;
04.00 on Thursday, 3 November to 04.00 on Friday, 4 November – all collection, processing, distribution and international operations;
04.00 on Friday, 4 November to 04.00 on Saturday, 5 November – all delivery operations.
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 be 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.