PostNL has won a court victory preventing a union from taking strike action during the final week of the pre-Christmas peak season in a dispute over new pay proposals.
Under its proposals made on December 10, PostNL said discussions for a new collective labour agreement (CLA) would focus on increasing jobs and ensuring as much job certainty as possible. They would also cover tailor-made labour conditions, individual options, pensions, wages and other topics.
The Dutch postal operator is now in talks with three out of the four unions represented at PostNL over a new CLA.
But the other one, the FNV, is unhappy with the proposals and organised strike action last Thursday. However, PostNL claimed that the union’s actions “did not significantly impact the postal and parcel delivery”.
On the same day, a court in The Hague ruled that the FNV is not allowed to strike at PostNL for more than 15 minutes per day. This judgment effectively prevents industrial actions that would disrupt mail and parcel delivery during peak season through until 6 January 2019, according to the postal operator.
PostNL had gone to court seeking an injunction to stop the FNV from organising strikes that could hamper service during the peak season, and that would directly target the interests of the company, its employees and clients. According to the company, the three other unions described the FNV actions as premature since negotiations had only just begun.
The postal operator said it hopes that the FNV, just like the other trade unions BVPP, CNV and VHP2, will now fully concentrate on meetings regarding the collective labour agreement. Post NL hopes to reach an agreement shortly with all four trade unions on a new collective labour agreement that is in line with the interests of employees and customers, ensures that PostNL remains an attractive employer and keeps PostNL in a sound financial position in the long term.
