UPU E-Commerce Forum: It's springtime for Post ending the letter mail blues!
More than 200 representatives of the world's postal operators and retailers gathered for a special forum on the future of global e-commerce at the Universal Postal Union in Bern. The forum examined a number of key challenges to delivering on the rapidly-growing demand for e-commerce and opportunities for postal operators to expand their businesses.
UNI Global Union General Secretary Philip Jennings was invited to speak and discuss the challenges and opportunities for workers as e-commerce continues to expand. Representing the world's five million postal workers Jennings said, "For years, postal operators were feeling the letter mail blues. Today with the rise of e-commerce, we see tremendous promise for the industry. It's e-commerce springtime in the postal world."
UNI Global Union is committed to innovative solutions to expanding postal services and is working with the UPU on programs that engage workers on the future of the post. Jennings challenged the postal sector to work more closely with e-tailers and to develop a strategy to meet their needs.
Jennings told the postal operators present, "I can assure you that workers and their unions are with you. We want to see investment in your workers, your networks and your capacity to deliver on e-commerce. It's not enough to fulfil the promise; we want you to win."
Jennings also welcomed the close cooperation with the International Transport Workers Federation as critical to ensuring a responsible supply chain across the globe. Competitive dynamics are changing as e-tailers and retailers develop home-grown delivery networks, Jennings noted. The concern that unions have was the “race to the bottom” in terms and conditions and poor delivery standards. He was outspoken about the appalling working conditions in Amazon warehouses, with Amazon very much on the union radar.
The forum also featured speakers from a number of leading e-tailers like Alibaba, Etsy and Ruketen. The customers said they need posts to invest in delivery quality, reliability and traceability to make the online shopping experience more seamless for vendors and consumers alike. The UPU is committed to building a comprehensive approach to fulfil these goals, UPU Director General Bishar Hussein said in his remarks.