No end in sight for Bpost strike

The strike at Belgian postal company Bpost continues to drag on with no end in sight, with negotiations between unions and management breaking down again this week.

In Wallonia, only 12% of postal workers turned up for work on Tuesday and Bpost’s management said all distribution centres in Brussels were blocked.

Bpost is demanding that these blockades be lifted before further discussions are had.

“We are asking for talks to resume without blockades and chaos,” said spokesperson Mathieu Goedefroy.

“Virtually all postmen are at work in Brussels, but due to the blockades, they’re not receiving all the parcels and mail they need to deliver.

"This may therefore have an impact on Brussels residents who will have to wait longer for their parcels."

Workers have been striking since the end of March over Bpost’s plans to change working hours, which they say will disrupt family lives, routines and employees’ overall work-life balance.

But Bpost is not backing down from these changes, which include having staff start work two hours later than usual - often, according to unions, with little notice.

“We do want to limit the impact and look at solutions on an individual basis for people who find themselves in difficulty,” said Goedefroy, adding that the plan includes compensation for the impact.

But Luc Tegethoff of the VSOA Post union said that was not true: “There is no money for compensation,” Tegethoff said, adding that he wants Bpost chief executive Chris Peeters to join the negotiating table.

Thierry Tasset of the socialist trade union CGSP Poste said several proposals from workers had been made but management has dismissed them all.

“We’re trying to be responsible, we’re giving the talks a chance, but tensions arise when the industrial dispute drags on,” Tasset said.

Stéphane Daussaint, general manager of the CSC-Transcom union, echoed criticisms that Bpost has yet to offer a genuine proposal.

“There’s still a long way to go to find a way out of the crisis,” Daussaint said.

While delays are possible in Flanders, most of the strike impact falls on Wallonia and Brussels, where Bpost said “parcels are currently blocked in our network and processing has been temporarily suspended”.

The lack of postal delivery is also putting pressure on shops that serve as distribution points, with parcels piling up to the point where some stores have had to stop accepting them.

“We’re swamped with parcels, they’re all over half the shop,” said Marika Matzaris, a sales assistant at one such store.

“Customers keep coming in, but we simply can’t take them in any longer.”

Martin Autequitte, a sales assistant at another shop, said that suspension of Bpost returns has been hard for customers to accept.

“Customers don’t always understand this problem, which isn’t really our fault to begin with,” Autequitte said.

“We try to explain it politely, but they’re always a bit annoyed. We’re still local shops, small businesses, which are prime targets for theft, whether at night or during the day. It’s always tricky to keep all of this safe.”

Public enterprises minister Vanessa Matz (Les Engagés) attempted to mediate between Bpost management and unions, but said in a statement that "discussions between the social partners within Bpost are currently at an impasse".

Matz asked employment minister David Clarinval (MR) to appoint a mediator “to restart talks between the trade unions and management and find a way out of the conflict”.

“It’s essential that dialogue resumes quickly,” said Matz. “A solution must be found in the interests of the company, its employees and all customers.”