Final stage on way to liberalisation of Belgian Post

Belgian Post is entering the final stage of preparation for the full liberalisation of the postal services market, scheduled to take place by 1 January 2011. As part of this process, the government has issued its final rules, which contain a number of social clauses. Although a collective agreement was signed with the trade unions for this final stage, conflict has arisen over the introduction of ‘assistant’ delivery worker positions.

Restructuring at Belgian Post

Belgian Post (De Post/La Poste) is, in terms of employment, the country’s biggest company, employing about 35,000 people. For a number of years, Belgian Post has been adapting its internal structures in preparation for the future liberalisation of the European postal services market. For example, its mail and retail branches have been separated, numerous post offices have been closed and significant job cuts have been made. The company has also been partly privatised, with the remaining 51% still owned by the state (BE0804039I, BE0704019Q).

The full liberalisation of the postal market – through the opening up of the mail delivery market and the abolishment of Belgian Post’s remaining monopoly in this regard – is in accordance with the European Directive opening up the postal market to competition by 1 January 2011 (Directive 2002/39/EC further amended by Directive 2008/6/EC (114Kb PDF)). In the final stage of this full liberalisation process, the partnership between trade unions and management in the restructuring process has encountered new tensions and difficulties.

Social clauses in liberalisation process

Belgium Post must open up the mail delivery market in accordance with the third postal market directive of February 2008 (Directive 2008/6/EC) by 1 January 2011. New mail companies will then be allowed to deliver ordinary mail. The government had already approved the basic measures for this process in December 2008. The legal texts were since established and all market players were consulted. On 17 December 2009, the government published the final rules (in French) for this process. Accordingly:

• Belgian Post retains the right to provide a basic universal service, at least until 2018, delivering mail five times a week and maintaining 1,300 sales points, 650 of which are post offices;

• the new mail companies must invest in the country’s three regions: after two years, they have to be able to deliver mail at least twice a week and, after five years, they have to cover 80% of Belgian territory with their postal services;

• the postal tariff cannot be dependent on the place of sending or receiving the mail;

• the mail regulator the Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications (Belgisch Instituut voor postdiensten en telecommunicatie/Institut belge des services postaux et des telecommunications, BIPT) will receive new powers – for instance, if a mail company does not conform with the standing regulations, the BIPT can impose a fine of up to 5% of the turnover of the company in question.

Most importantly, from an industrial relations perspective:

• to guarantee correct working conditions in the sector and to avoid social dumping practices, only employees can do the work of postal workers – that is, delivering post; however, the transport of mail can still be done by self-employed persons.

Bargaining of new management contract

Based on these new rules, the Minister of Public Enterprises, Inge Vervotte, entered into negotiations on a new management contract (in French) with Belgian Post. As part of this bargaining, the company is being asked to develop the social role of postal workers as well as new corporate social responsibility initiatives related to sustainable development and diversity in management. Under the new agreement, Belgian Post will retain the state-sponsored contracts to deliver newspapers and, when requested by the customer, the delivery of social benefit payments, mainly pensions. Belgian Post will still, after liberalisation, receive €321 million for this universal service obligation.

Conflict over part-time delivery workers

As part of the final stage before full liberalisation, Belgian Post reached a new company collective agreement with the trade unions in the summer of 2009. Besides a 2% average wage increase, the agreement also guarantees job security for the duration of the accord – that is, until the end of 2010.

However, since this agreement, conflict has arisen between management and the trade unions over the company’s plans to introduce a new job function – that of part-time postal delivery workers. These workers would partly take over the tasks of existing postal workers. Some 8,000 of these part-time jobs would replace the positions of 4,000 postal workers who are due to retire in the coming years.

It is planned that these part-time workers, who would be low-paid, would deliver mail in their own neighbourhood for a couple of hours each day. These ‘community postal delivery workers’ (wijkpostbodes) would – similar to the Dutch system – mainly consist of working students and housewives. Belgian Post hopes to save €30 million through the introduction of this plan.

However, an agreement is still outstanding on this matter between the company and the trade unions – largely due to setbacks caused by wildcat strikes and one official strike. After months of bargaining, the issue has still not been settled. Moreover, the name of these workers has since been changed – that is, to that of ‘assistant postal workers’ (hulppostbode). In addition, the proposed working conditions of these workers have been enhanced, although a final agreement is still pending. On 9 December 2009, this new proposal was handed over to the trade unions.

Guy Van Gyes, Higher Institute of Labour Studies (HIVA), Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven)