A government-appointed commission has been set up to investigate the future development of LaPoste which is aiming for partial privatisation in 2010, French media reported.
During the next two months, a commission of 20 representatives will work on the change of statusof the government-owned company. The committee includes parliamentarians, six labour unions, staffand customers and will be headed by Francois Ailleret, former top executive of EDF. A first meetingwill take place next week.
The French state secretary for industry and government spokesman Luc Chatel was cited as sayingthat the committee will have to evaluate the different possible options for the development of LaPoste. “This commission will be charged with considering the future of La Poste, reflecting on whatdevelopments are necessary, given the European environment and the competition that will appear onJanuary 1, 2011”, he said.
At the end of August, La Poste unveiled plans to restructure into a limited company in 2010 andto float a minority holding on the stock exchange in 2011 in order to raise €2.5 – €3.5 billion forgrowth, including acquisitions. French media referred to a possible IPO involving a 10-20% stake.But La Poste underlined that its public service commitments would be maintained, there would be nochanges to employee status, and it would remain a public company majority owned by the state.
Six unions at La Poste have already called a national strike on September 23, 2008, in protestat plans to restructure the French postal operator into a limited company and then part-privatiseit. The unions (CGT, FO, CFDT, PTT-Sud and CGC) said that they would organise demonstrations acrossFrance. They have also called for a national debate on the future of the state-owned postalorganization and announced they would collect public signatures against the part-privatisationplan.
