In 2003, the Belgian postal service must accept the liberalisation of a number of its activities, in line with EU regulations. The trade unions have long been aware of the cost this will entail in terms of jobs and have demanded a dialogue with management to implement a plan to accompany redundancies. However, dialogue has been hindered or delayed by changes on the employer's side, including the installation of a new management team. Failure to negotiate a collective agreement for 2000 resulted in a strike being called in March 2000.
Belgium's former minister in charge of supervising the postal service, Elio Di Rupo, recently asked the Coopers and Lybrand consultancy firm to prepare an audit, with a view to preparing for the liberalisation of postal services in 2003, in response to EU requirements (EU9812136F). The study pointed to the need to increase productivity, and identified the tasks threatened by change and the activities that required fresh impetus. Among other issues, a finger was pointed at the mail-sorting process, which has a degree of automation of only 50%, compared with the 90% achieved in the Netherlands. Counter clerks are also singled out: "they need to be more than mere sellers of stamps" (quoted in the Le Soir newspaper of 13 December 1999).
On the heels of this status report, the former management of the postal service asked the McKinsey consultancy firm to elaborate by 2000 an operational plan that would allow the enterprise to adapt to the changes required in the framework of liberalisation. The inevitable modernisation of the post service will entail the automation of post offices and sorting centres. According to reports in a number of Belgian daily newspapers ("L'Écho" and "De Tijd"), the study states that these changes will bring about the loss of 11,000 out of 39,000 current jobs in the Post Office. While the trade unions find this an unpalatable perspective, they are eager to negotiate with management a solution that includes accompanying measures for the inevitable job losses.
The management of the Belgian Post Office had been accused of lacking coherence, with the the functioning of the board of directors described as chaotic and relations with the trade unions stormy (BE9903168N). In December 1999, the mandates of the 12 members of the board of directors were renewed and in January 2000 a new management team was put in place. The new chief executive, Mr Rombouts, met the various trade union delegations on 16-17 February.
The outcome of the meeting was that the new management asked the unions to allow it the time it needs to learn the postal service business, to understand the work environment and to promote a new corporate culture. It pledged to present to the employees' representatives a strategic integrated plan covering industrial, commercial, social and financial aspects in September 2000. In contrast to the "defeatist" conclusions of the McKinsey report, the new management aims to be reassuring, stating that the level of job losses cannot be forecast at the moment, and no endorsement can be given to the figure of 11,000 jobs that stand to be lost. The new management is committed to finding new markets in order to restrict as far as possible the social cost exacted by liberalisation of the sector in 2003. A human resources plan will be negotiated with the unions in September.
The trade unions take note of this change of attitude: "Before, there was only talk of restrictive measures with a view to reducing the wage bill," said Roland Herbiet, the representative of the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (Confédération des Syndicats Chrétiens/Algemeen Christelijk Vakverbond, CSC/ACV). "The new boss wants to change the image of the Post Office and turn into a moneymaking concern. (…) At last, it's a message of hope," commented Jean-Claude Balland of the Belgian General Federation of Labour (Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique/Algemeen Belgisch Vakverbond, FGTB/ABVV). Nevertheless, negotiations have once again been delayed, until September 2000 – the time when the details of the plan drawn up by management will be known.
In the meanwhile, the legal status of the Post Office, currently still an autonomous state enterprise, is changing: on 3 March 2000, it becomes a public law corporation. This means changes in the composition of the delegation representing the Post Office's interests as an employer.
Employee representatives have been asking management since September 1999 to open negotiations over a collective agreement covering 2000, though without success. In February 2000, the new management seemed to be paying heed to these requests and announced to the press that "it was doing its utmost to finalise a collective agreement". After a first meeting, it appeared however that management had failed to meet the trade unions' demands. A strike notice was served for 6 March, the date on which the Post Office joint committee had been due to ratify the agreement for 2000. Negotiations were still underway in early March.