UNI Global Union: Hundreds gather in Brussels to protest post liberalisation
Nyon (ots)
Postal workers, union members, MEPs and concerned citizens will tell the European Parliament in Brussels today to demand an end to post market liberalisation.
The groups say the switch from publicly funded post systems to private ownership routinely leads to unemployment, attacks on working conditions and poorer service for customers.
UNI Global Union will host a demonstration at 2 pm at the European Parliament to urge it to immediately put a moratorium on the implementation of the 3rd postal directive, which would pave the way for the privatisation of postal services across Europe.
"What we have been seeing in Germany and the Netherlands recently-- postal companies demanding lower wages and announcing big job cuts and the courts ruling against negotiated safeguards -- is the inevitable disastrous conclusion of a failed liberalisation policy," said Neil Anderson, Head of UNI Post & Logistics. "Our research shows liberalisation is a catalyst for social dumping. The European Commission is blindly implementing a botched strategy and ignoring the serious social consequences."
Joining UNI are unions and public interest group members who don't want to see quality mail service disappear from Europe.
"Workers and concerned citizens have found common cause in this fight," said MEP Sabine Wils, from Germany's Die Linke party. "We don't want to pay more for poorer service and we don't want our taxes going to corporations who care more about profits than customer satisfaction."
A global study, carried out by UNI, shows that full liberalisation of the postal market does not work. Service quality has deteriorated in liberalised postal markets. Liberalisation also causes tremendous job losses, increases precarious working conditions and leads to wage cuts.
The UNI study has been ignored by the European Commission, which failed to meet the demands made by the European Parliament when they agreed to postal market liberalisation.
You can find the study at: http://www.uniglobalunion.org/Apps/iportal.nsf/pages/20090211_6lcrEn
UNI Post & Logistics is the global union for the postal and logistics industry, representing 157 unions and 2.5 million workers worldwide.
Contact:
Neil Anderson
Mobile: +41/79/508'26'16