Unions have protested at the plans of TNT Express to reduce its Italian workforce by 850 staff andare calling on the firm to avoid compulsory redundancies.
The Dutch group yesterday announced a major restructuring in Italy that will reduce the3,000-strong workforce to some 2,150 and see the closure of 20 smaller depots out of the 100branches across the country in a bid to reduce operating costs amid the severe economic crisis inthe country.
But the FILT CGIL, CISL and Fit Uiltrasporti unions said they wanted an agreement with thecompany “to protect jobs and avoid layoffs”. TNT should “withdraw the dismissals and present acredible industrial plan” that would target investment and job protection, they demanded. Theyformally declared “a state of agitation” and said they would decide on protest actions in the nextfew days.
TNT Express Italy, with net sales of €605 million in 2012, is one of the express marketleaders, operating domestic and international air and road express services within, to and fromItaly. It has a network of some 100 locations, including hubs, depots and service centres.
The managing director of TNT Express Italy, Tony Jakobsen, stated: “I am aware that this isparticularly difficult news, but unfortunately the economic downturn and the pressure on priceswhich affects the transport sector require these changes. We need to rethink our organisation in amore agile and slender way, with a competitive cost structure that is able to protect our marketposition in the long term.”
TNT Express spokesman Cyrille Gibot told CEP-Research: “We have to make our work processesmore efficient. This is particularly pressing in Italy given the intensity of the recession and thepressure it puts on our performance.” The savings in Italy would contribute to the expected €220million improvements targeted at group level by 2015.
Consultation with the unions has started and the planned reorganisation will be spread overseveral months, he said. “We will try to minimise the number of compulsory redundancies, but theycannot be avoided given the scope of the necessary reorganisation,” he made clear.
TNT stressed yesterday that service levels and full network connectivity would be maintainedin Italy despite the restructuring, and the company would also invest in depot sorting and IT andenhance customer experience through better customer-facing and operational processes.
