Trade union SNTCT has called a one-day, nationwide strike next week over restructuring at Portugal’s public postal operator CTT Correios.
The action, set for Friday, 2 March, is a continuation of a campaign that began in Novemberlast year against the handling of postal work by subcontractors and a possible part-privatisationof the state-owned group as European postal markets head towards open competition in 2009.
SNTCT members who work for Mailtec, the printer and finisher Correios acquired in 2005 andwhich has taken over large-volume contracts formerly handled by Correios staff, have been asked tojoin the strike, as have those at privatised Portugal Telecom currently involved in a pay andconditions dispute.
Restructuring at Correios is resulting in the loss of several hundred jobs, says the union,although management denies this, saying the externalising of business accounts will not lead tocompulsory redundancies, merely make the organisation more efficient.
SNTCT officials met in January to plan a new campaign of action following a strike on 27December it says was followed by 8,000 (60%) of the post service’s 13,000 employees and severelydisrupted the handling, transport and distribution of mail across the country.
“Vacant posts are not being filled and the number of branches is being reduced. This is aserious situation and a struggle that is worth the effort. The functioning of the company hasalready been restructured four times, prejudicing everybody,” SNTCT said in a statement on its website.
Like other EU countries, Portugal faces having to open up its mail services 100% to privatecompetition by 2009 and SNTCT believes that CTT Correios is already being prepared for an eventualprivatisation or the hiving off of profitable business segments.
