Brussels, (Brussels Morning)- Several hundred delegates from the three trade unions of Bpost marched through Brussels on Tuesday morning to the cabinet of Postal Minister Petra De Sutter (Green), to demand an amendment to the postal law and a level playing field to prevent social dumping in parcel delivery.
The trade unions are waiting impatiently for the new postal law, about which there is still disagreement within politicians. That is why they had a meeting with the minister on Tuesday to go through and discuss the text, says BRUZZ.
“We were welcomed there, the minister listened carefully to our grievances, also about the problems with our current CEO,” says Geert Cools of the socialist ACOD. “It is my understanding that they will continue to work in the inter-cabinet working groups and that the subject will be on the agenda in the coming days.”
‘We will run into problems if the postal law is not amended’
According to Cools, the intention would be to reach a settlement about an adapted text. “When we speak to the CEO of Bpost, we hear that a lot depends on this new law,” says Luc Tegethoff of the liberal trade union ACLVB.
“He says in so many words that investment in the sorting centres must be limited if the postal law does not come, which also means employment decreases and tasks are outsourced, and then we will really get into trouble.”
According to Annick Boon of the Christian trade union ACV, the trade unions of CEO Dirk Tirez are not getting any clarity about the future of the activities in Belgium. “If we ask questions, we get questions back. If we ask for guarantees, these are guarantees with a lot of conditions.”
Level playing field
The postal law must also include rules on a level playing field for parcel delivery. “That is very important for the entire sector. It will have a huge impact on Bpost if we have to compete with practices such as those at PostNL. That would have a huge impact on the workload,” says Boon. She also emphasizes that unions want decent working conditions for everyone throughout the sector, especially after reports of modern slavery and child labor in the sector.
The unions therefore demand that Bpost continue to work with employees in permanent employment in the future, while according to them the CEO is already discussing restructuring plans with consultants, says Geert Cools. At the previous joint committee, the unions indicated that they want concrete answers by July 5, and that date has been kept.
“The trade union peace in the company is currently badly disturbed and the relationship with the CEO is currently at a low ebb,” Cools said. The unions, which themselves had expected 400 to 500 demonstrators, are satisfied with the turnout, especially because there were no calls to stop the work.
Bpost: ‘We are in full transformation’
In a response, bpost says it is ‘in full transformation from a letter post company to an international e-commerce logistics company that also handles postal operations for all Belgians’. Indeed, the traditional business model of each postal operator is being challenged by market and technological changes, but also by macroeconomic and geopolitical evolutions, such as the war in Ukraine, the explosion of inflation and changes in consumer purchasing behaviour, it sounds.
Change is therefore necessary to give Bpost a sustainable future. “The management is doing everything necessary to realise this strategy and is sticking to its commitments to its employees,” it said. “These commitments are reflected in a sustainable human resources policy (not a social plan), based on constructive social dialogue, healthy working conditions, adequate protection in case of illness or incapacity for work, opportunities for personal development through training and fair remuneration.”
The company wants to continue to develop on a socially level playing field and to compete within a clear legislative framework, while continuing to work with contractual employment. The board also says it understands the concerns of the unions ‘as long as there is no clarity about the social level playing field’. “We are also taking the necessary steps to restore the social dialogue, which she considers extremely important.”
