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Abvakabo: we underestimated the consequences of postal liberalisation



The Dutch colleagues from the UNI P&L affiliate, ABVAKABO, gave a comprehensive and interesting overview about the history, developments and effects of the postal liberalisation in the Netherlands. In a meeting with colleagues from the postal Trade Unions, Peter Wiechmann, secretary in Abvakabo for the postal sector concluded his presentation by saying: “We underestimated the consequences of postal liberalisation”.



A short summary of important steps in the Dutch postal history: Since 1989, the Dutch postal company PTT has been formally privatised and was listed in 1994 on the stock market. The company bought in 1996 the Australian express company TNT and changed its name into TNT Post in 2006. 1998 the Dutch Telecom has been spitted off from the Dutch Post. In a last step, the share holders decided in June 2011 to split the company once more into TNT Express and PostNL, the Dutch postal provider.

The Netherlands were one of the first European countries which liberalised their postal market in April 2009.



These developments were accompanied with the efforts of the Dutch Union to protect and support the postal workers in these changes, maintain the working conditions and salaries and keep as many jobs in the sector as possible. While the company from 2005 to 2010 reduced the number of jobs for full time post workers by more than 4000, they increased the numbers of part-time deliverers in this period by 5000 and sub-contracted 80% of the parcel delivery. If the company is able to implement their plans, then there will be no traditional jobs for postal workers in 2013 and they will all have been replaced by part-time postal delivery workers with a maximum of 25 working hours per week.



Further the number of post offices is to be reduced from 350 to 8.



In the Netherlands, new postal competitors use the business models of newspaper delivery with only part-time or self-employed deliverers without contracts for delivering bulk mail for business clients and they only operate in profitable parts of the market. The companies compete on prices, the new companies offer prices for business clients of € 0,15 per piece – a tariff of € 0,24 would be necessary to be able to pay the requirements of workers paid as per a Collective Contract (CLA). TNT created its own low-cost carrier VSP in 2006 to be able to compete. The result is a big problem with social dumping but also with quality services as 3 people deliver now on the same day at the same door in 3 different uniforms.



Abvakabo tried to do their best to follow up these developments and reflect them in CLA’s and agreements with the government. But so far no CLA has been achieved covering the new competitors or the whole postal branch. A big step is to convince the government that undermining minimum standards by using new forms of contracts and employments is a problem which can’t be ignored and has to be solved by politicians. In 2009 the Trade Union was able to achieve in negotiations, which were undertaken including strike action, a reduction in the plan of TNT to lower labour costs by 25% but still had to conceded a reduction of 5%. But a planned agreement with the company to cut labour costs to avoid redundancies was rejected by the members. The company raised the pressure. In 2010 the company again gave the choice between 11,000 job losses or lower the labour conditions by 25%. The Trade Unions refused any reduction in salaries or labour conditions, so the company started to cut jobs. Since this point, especially after 7 days of strikes, all serious and productive discussions between the “social partners” stopped. Nevertheless with their strike action and protest campaign, the Trade Union managed to save 1,900 full-time jobs but still had to concede 2,600 redundancies which will be carried out from 2011.



The 30^th of June 2011, the Dutch court will decide on a case brought in by the TNT works councils who complained about the fact that post-persons will be replaced 1:1 by part-time deliverer doing the same job for less money. This could be a mile stone in the fight against the consequences of liberalisation. Also a new postal industry CLA is on the table which is very basic and really only reflects what is minimum social standards by law. It includes mainly the proposals given by a mediator in 2010 after the strikes. The important points are to phase out self-employment by 2013 and reach a level of 80% labour contracts within all companies in the sector and the obligation to have CLA’s with all new competitors. But even this seems to be too much and not acceptable for the Dutch postal companies, an opposition has been formed already demanding the exclusion from the self-employed regulation of companies with a revenue of less that 2 mio €!



Peter Wiechmann mentioned several challenges for Trade Unions in the liberalisation process and asked the colleagues not to underestimate these tasks. The first and most important is to organise in the new competitors and the new forms of employment. Without their strength and the creation of a feeling of solidarity amongst the workers of different companies, the Trade Union has a weak stand in negotiations. The Trade Unions have to find a solution for the part-time and precarious working time models extensively introduced by the company. The new technologies, centralization and restructuring measures have forced all postal companies to ask for more work in less time. The stance now taken in the Netherlands is that part time is only acceptable as long as it doesn’t replace full-time jobs. Finally Peter emphasized that it is absolutely necessary to create a social equal level playing field with good regulation and a regulator which also is responsible to control adherence to the law BEFORE postal liberalisation takes place, to avoid social dumping and a down turn of working conditions and salaries.



The participants and UNI Europa Post & Logistics were impressed by the comprehensive and open presentation of the Dutch colleagues. The Dutch experiences gave a good overview about what can happen if liberalisation takes place without preparation and a good social regulation. The Trade Unions have to change their strategies and policies before the economic situation in the country changes with the market opening. UNI Europa Post & Logistics will continue to fight together with the national postal Trade Unions for a good regulation, quality jobs and sustainable financing of the universal services. “We will try to spread the experiences of Abvakabo all over the world”, says Cornelia Berger, policy officer in UNI Europa, “it is a big step to say that consequences has been underestimated and mistakes have been done and the Dutch colleagues have my deepest respect. Nobody can say what the future brings and the Trade Unions always act in all conscience in the name of the workers. Now we have to use this example to prepare other Trade Unions and to lobby against the negative consequences of postal liberalisation on global, European and national level and I know the colleagues from Abvakabo will support us with this.”



The presentations of the day are available on the UNI P&L web page at; http://www.uniglobalunion.org/Apps/UNINews.nsf/vwLkpById/91556B32E022162CC12578C4004CAEA7/$FILE/Abvakabo%20UNI%20liberalisation%20postal%20market.ppt