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The new collective agreement at La Poste failed to win the approval of all workers' representatives. A notice of strike has been filed in Brussels and Flanders. Meanwhile, management has begun the renegotiation of the firm's management contract, even as La Poste gets set to form part of a consortium led by the Danish post office.
New tension at La Poste (BE0412302N, BE0308303F, BE0409301N). The French-speaking Socialist union (General Confederation of Public Services (Centrale Générale des Services Publics, CGSP)) and the Free Trade Union of Civil Servants (Syndicat libre de la Fonction Publique/Vrij Syndicaat voor het Openbaar Ambt, SLFP/VSOA) approved on 22 September the collective agreement for 2005-2006 negotiated with management of La Poste. The Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (Confédération des Syndicats Chrétiens/Algemeen Christelijk Vakverbond, CSC/ACV) and (Algemene Centrale der Openbare Diensten, ACOD) -the Flemish counterpart to the CGSP - refused to sign. In spite of their opposition, the new agreement -which had to be approved by two thirds of the assembly- may enter into force.
The new collective agreement improves pay scales for contract employees, maintains the calculation system for the pensions of permanent employees and introduces a job classification system. 'But these positive points do not really measure up compared to the dismantling of the postal service statute and the devaluation of operative posts', observed André Blaise (CSC). The Christian trade union denounces 'the discontinuation of the sick leave system'-with a new upper limit of 300 working days being set- and 'the introduction of an entirely different wage policy' further to the entry into force of the job classification system. 'The whole postal service statute is going up in smoke', denounced the Christian trade union. 'We cannot accept this, especially because we know that the Danish post office [the future strategic partner of La Poste] offered compensation to its permanent employees to get them to accept a more flexible statute', added the union. The CSC also denounces the conditions for early retirement, which are 'much less attractive than what existed previously'. To quality for early retirement, workers will now have to be aged at least 58 and have 35 years' seniority.
The French-speaking Socialist union and the Liberal union welcome the advances of the new collective agreement. 'We did not want to miss out on opportunities for change while protecting the most fundamental acquired rights', declared their leadership in a joint press release. 'This collective agreement finally offers a real chance for a career to the 12,000 employees working under contract, who will benefit from a higher pay scale', explained Jean-Claude Balland (CGSP).
A week after the signature of the agreement, the Flemish unions ACV and ACOD announced a notice of strike as a means of covering any spontaneous industrial actions by Flemish and Brussels region post office employees. 'In Flanders, 80% of the rank and file rejected the text', explained Jozef De Doncker (ACOD). 'So it is only normal to expect that spontaneous actions might occur', he added.
In parallel with the collective agreement, management began negotiating the fourth management contract between La Poste and the Belgian State. According to the unions, this new text contains some major changes. 'Management claims that it will maintain 589 offices manned exclusively by post office employees. That means that by 2009, 713 outlets will be in the hands of private partners', observed André Blaise (CSC). The unions denounce the fact that these postal outlets provide only 'minimal service' to the public.
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