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Osterreichische Post said it plans to outsource its letter delivery over the next years as it prepares for the end of its letter monopoly in 2011.

The operator will start with commissioning subsidiaries or private operators for delivery in 24 selected areas this year, covering about 5% of Austrian Post's total letter volume this year, board member Walter Hitziger said on Austrian radio.

The group, which employs around 11,000 in its letter business, has no plans to make workers redundant, but will not fill vacancies coming up when employees leave the company, and instead gradually shift capacity to third-party providers, he said.

In the long term, Austrian Post plans to launch a Europe-wide tender to find an external provider to deliver letters, he said. He did not give a timeframe for this step.

The postal workers trade union said it would consider strikes to stop the planned measures.