Post Office management’s scheme to cut the number of workers, reduce the number of branches (and somehow still operate in accordance with its concession agreement) has not gone down well with the workers' union which has issued a strike notice for Thursday and Friday this week, ostensibly for better working conditions but in fact in rejection of the Transformation Plan.
Fernando Ambrioso, head of the Union of Postal and Telecommunications Workers, fully expects that a high number of workers will not turn up for work on Thursday and Friday (21st and 22nd December) as they are not at all happy with the direction the business is going and at job losses.
The union reckons that mail deliveries will be back on track a couple of working days after the strike ends. Customers should spot that the express Correio Azul service will be later than usual but won’t notice much difference in normal mail delivery times as these are running slow, anyway.
The 800 job losses over the next three years is a small percentage of the 6,700 postal workers employed by CTT but those remaining fear they will have to do their own jobs and those of departed colleagues.
Ambrosiano said that "one of the objectives of this strike was to get people to discuss what is wanted from this service - this already has been achieved."
CTT management predicts that the strike will have little effect. According to a statement, the company says that in general, the effects of the strike will be minimal, with disruption only found in a few areas.
The pre-strike notice covers the distribution network and service in post offices, but does not include, according to management, post offices that are operated by third parties.
CTT also says that the strike does not extend to agents who provide PayShop payment services.
In an attempt to 'share the pain' CTT’s directors have taken a voluntary pay cut of 15%, with CTT president Francisco Lacerda going for a 25% reduction, in recognition of the sharp decline in CTT’s profits and a share price slide that has left floatation investors with paper losses.
The government has rejected calls from the Left Bloc and Communist parties for the renationalisation of CTT but with the current board inept when predicting obviously changing market conditions - a 6%-7% drop each year in the number of letters posted - and hence failing to plan accordingly, ministers are looking at the concession service contract to see how far below agreed norms the business is performing.
