Industrial action at sorting centres of bpost has been disrupting mail and parcel operations in Belgium since last week, with bpost having deployed temporary workers to handle the mail and parcel backlog.
A dozen distribution centres also remained closed in the country since Tuesday morning.
Postal workers at the five sorting centres of bpost in Brussels, Charleroi, Liege, Antwerp and Ghent went on strike in the night from 21 October to 22 October to protest against the management’s intention to equate the working hours on Saturday with the work during the week. The planned change would remove two hours of compensation for weekend work to be replaced by an annual net wage benefit of €240, the Belgian trade union CSC (Confederation of Christian Unions) explained in an official statement.
In addition, bpost’s management also wants to introduce flexible working hours for 15% of the workers employed at the sorting centres on a voluntary basis from 2016. In this new structure, staff could be notified up to one hour before the start of their working day that they have to change teams or not turn up at work at all on that day, CSC continued.
"The staff members understand that bpost is facing significant challenges in a competitive market,” CSC-Transcom stated. “But they find that the proposed savings are too drastic. The elimination of compensation for the two hours of work on Saturday can lead to delivery rounds that can last up to 8.5 hours on weekdays. It's unjustifiable. In a study by VUB (University of Brussels), it was calculated that the maximum working time in pure distribution should not exceed 7-7.5 hours.”
In response to the strike action, the Belgian postal operator took legal action on Monday turning to the courts of Brussels, Liege and Charleroi to put an end to the strike that paralysed the sorting centres at the three cities and has been successful with its demand. bpost said: “The strike action was recognised as illegal by the three presidents of the courts.”
However, the Christian union considered bpost’s behaviour as a violation of its right to strike which, in turn, sparked new strikes at various distribution centres yesterday after a bpost spokeswoman confirmed that work has resumed at the sorting centres.
The distribution centres now affected by strike action since Tuesday include Liege, Seraing, Herstal, Awans,Neupré and Flémalle. In the Hainault region, the distribution centres of La Louvière, Binche, Manage, Ath and Tournai are also closed while those in Charleroi and Mons function only partially.
This morning, André Blaise, responsible for the postal sector at CSC Transcom, confirmed that numerous distribution centres of bpost remained closed including Villers-le-Bouillet, Neupré, Nandrain, Oupeye, Herstal, Manage and Nivelles due to continuous strike action.
As another measure to cope with the consequences of the strike, bpost yesterday announced the deployment of temporary staff.
“In the exceptional circumstances that concern us, bpost is using interim workers in order to reduce the dramatic consequences of the disproportionate actions in the last days. This is not related to the workers currently on strike and it does not represent a challenge to the employees' right to strike,” the postal operator stressed.
“The company management is taking all necessary steps to limit the damage. These operational emergency measures are destined to reduce the workload with bearable conditions for colleagues on the one hand and also to catch up on the delayed deliveries of mail and parcels on the other hand. We want to minimise the negative impact on the public, clients and staff. Moreover, we continue to advocate for constructive social dialogue.”
Meanwhile, the temporary workers apparently left the company, Blaise said. The decision to take on temporary staff made CSC angry, which named it an ‘illegal’ manoeuvre. "We are currently reviewing all currently possible legal recourses against this approach," he said.
To settle the labour dispute, the representatives of bpost and the union scheduled a meeting to continue their negotiations which will take place tomorrow.
