TNT Express Italy was holding urgent talks with unions today after operations were seriouslydisrupted by an all-out strike on Friday in protest at plans for 854 job cuts and ahead of a second
planned stoppage tomorrow.Italian transport unions FILT CGIL, FIT CISL and Uiltrasporti claimed a high turnout in thestrike on Friday (June 28) which impacted seriously on TNT’s 100 branches across the country andare pressing ahead with plans for an another stoppage tomorrow (July 2).
The unions want the Dutch company to withdraw plans to downsize the Italian business from some3,000 workers to about 2,150 and to close about 20 smaller branches in order to reduce operatingcosts amid the severe economic crisis in the country. Instead they are demanding a new plan tosafeguard jobs.
Giulia Guida, FILT CGIL secretary general, said: “In the meeting on Monday to continuediscussions on the mobility procedures we will reinforce our demand for the withdrawal of layoffs.We hope that the government also realises the seriousness of this situation by launching around-table at the economics ministry.”
TNT Express spokesman Cyrille Gibot told CEP-Research: “As we had expected, Friday’s actionsignificantly affected our collection and delivery operations, as well as our Italian customerservice. Our operations are mostly back to normal today and we are working to clear the backlog,although delay in deliveries can still be expected in Bologna.
“For tomorrow, we are anticipating some impact to our operations and we will do our best tomitigate the effect on our customers. We have agreed with the unions that we can manage criticalhealthcare shipments,” he added.
TNT Express Italy, with net sales of €605 million in 2012, is one of the express market leaders,operating domestic and international air and road express services within, to and from Italy. Ithas a network of some 100 locations, including hubs, depots and service centres.
