Belgium’s bpost is heading for five days of rolling postal strikes from the end of next week which are likely to bring disruption to the state-owned operator's services.
Industrial action, largely in protest at working conditions and restructuring measures, is scheduled to take place between November 7 -12. Stoppages each day will be focused on specific branches of bpost's business, beginning in sorting centres followed by transport, distribution, retail, call centres, parcels, international services and the facility located at Brussels Airport's Brucargo cargo zone, according to the CGSP Poste staff union.
Speaking in the Belgian media, the union’s general secretary, Jacques Lespagnard, said there were a number of reasons for the strike call which included excessive workloads, the company's new organisation programme “that wasn't working”, a lack of personnel and inadequate training.
He described the situation on the ground as “catastrophic”, adding that staff demands to bpost's management had “fallen on deaf ears despite warnings over months and years”. The company's “new strategic vision which will shake up everything is also of concern to us”, he added.
In May this year, bpost restructured its activities into three business units, Mail & Retail, Parcels & Logistics Europe & Asia and Parcels & Logistics North America, in response to the acceleration of the mail volume decline, the increase in parcel volumes and e-commerce logistics value creation.
In a letter to staff, CEO Koen Van Gerven said he “understood that the changes in the company were a worry to some workers” and that he “would do his best to respond to such apprehension so that everybody can participate in our future”.
However, he made it clear that a key priority in bpost moving forward was its financial well-being and a service offering adapted to market requirements. In his letter, Van Gerven underlined that bpost was currently recruiting staff, the report added, going on to quote a company source who said 250 workers had been hired last month.
No one was available at bpost to comment on the forthcoming strikes when contacted by CEP-Research. However, in a media report, a spokesperson regretted that the unions had decided to take such action.
“It will affect customers and citizens at time when bpost needs to show more than ever that it is close to them”. Management was therefore calling on the unions to “get around the negotiating table to discuss the current situation and the company's future projects”.
However, the CGSP Poste's Lespagnard claimed that there had been no approach from management since the strike call was issued on October 25 which was “astonishing”, he said. “The only contact that we've had is a letter to staff in which were told that everything was fine, that dialogue exists and will continue. That really amounts to provocation”.
Ahead of the scheduled stoppages on November 7-12 there have been reports of strike action at a number of post offices in the Liège area where no mail was delivered.
In a statement issued in August, bpost unveiled lower profits for the April-June quarter with strong revenue growth outweighed by rising transport costs.
For 2018 as a whole, the group said it expected double-digit volume growth in domestic parcels, growth in international parcels and the revenues of Radial (an integrated e-commerce logistics specialist acquired in November 2017) to be impacted by client losses. Higher costs would be driven by rising transport costs, consolidation of acquisitions and scheduled pay rises in October, although partly compensated by productivity improvements and cost controls. Operating profits (EBITDA) are expected at the low end of the €560 million-€600 million range.
