The new ‘populist’ government in Italy is getting involved in a dispute at FedEx and TNT over hundreds of job cuts which drew large numbers of workers on the streets in a two-day strike last week.
Transport unions Filt Cgil, Fit Cisl and Uiltrasporti claimed the strike turnout at FedEx and TNT facilities across the country was ‘almost total’ last Thursday and ‘large’ last Friday. The three unions are opposed to plans to close 26 branches and lay off more than 360 staff as part of the integration of the two companies in Italy.
In a notable public scene captured by Italian TV and media, the new Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte held a brief conversation with a group of protesting workers in Rome, telling them to “trust” the new government, including the new Labour Minister and leader of the Five Star Movement, Luigi Di Maio.
On Friday, the unions reiterated their demands for FedEx to withdraw the redundancy plans and hold talks over the planned restructuring, and called on Luigi Di Maio to participate in a meeting at the Ministry of Economic Development on Thursday (June 7).
FedEx Express Europe confirmed to CEP-Research today that “groups” of FedEx Express and TNT employees participated in the industrial action on May 31 and June 1. But the company stressed: “The vast majority of the combined network of stations were operational during the strikes, with approximately 80% of the overall workforce made of FedEx Express, TNT and subcontractor staff providing service through the operational contingency plans the companies had put in place.”
Both FedEx Express and TNT experienced service delays, mainly with pickups and deliveries, as a result of the industrial action, but all FedEx Express and TNT stations in Italy were fully operational again today. “We resumed our regular service today with the priority to clear any backlogs swiftly. We apologize for any inconvenience our customers may have experienced over the past days and thank our customers for their understanding,” the company said.
Talks resumed today between the companies (FedEx Express and TNT) and union representatives. “We would like to restate our willingness and full commitment to continue an open dialogue with the social parties throughout the consultation process, to evaluate with them any possible measure to mitigate the impact of the reorganization on the affected employees,” a spokesperson said.
FedEx Express also confirmed that there would be a further meeting with union representatives at the Economics Ministry on June 7. “In its support of a fast and positive completion of the consultations, the Ministry summoned FedEx Express and TNT and Union Representatives to an additional meeting on June 7, 2018, to assess the development and status of the negotiations and the parties' commitment to a constructive dialogue, as well as to further discuss and develop the material measures already introduced by our companies to benefit employees affected by the reorganizations.”
FedEx underlined: “Our aim is to discuss with Unions the several mitigation proposals which will minimize the impact of the changes, ranging from other internal job opportunities to voluntary departure incentives. We are fully committed to a transparent dialogue with Union representatives throughout the consultation process and to evaluate with them any possible measure to mitigate the impact of the reorganization on the affected employees. We trust that all parties will act responsibly during the negotiations.”
Last week the company explained that the restructuring measures in Italy were necessary to ensure that operations remained commercially viable by eliminating duplicate stations, hubs and offices, as well as many different processes, procedures and systems, which resulted in considerable inefficiencies. In future, shipments currently handled by 24 FedEx stations would be processed by existing TNT depots, while two TNT depots would also close.
