Government mediator appointed to look into postal delivery conflict

The government has appointed an external mediator to look into problems in the postal delivery sector, junior economic affairs minister Henk Bleker told tv show Buitenhof.

No new pay deal for postal delivery workers has yet been finalised and if unions and management fail to reach agreement by the end of the year, all delivery workers will automatically fall under the general pay and conditions agreement for the sector.
Former Labour MP Ruud Vreeman has been asked to find out if ‘there are new opportunities to end the conflict decently,’ Bleker said.
Competition
The twist stems from the conditions slapped on budget firms such as Sandd and Selekt Mail when delivery was fully opened up to competition in July 2008.
In that agreement, which was signed by ministers, unions and employers, Sandd and Selekt committed themselves to formally employing at least 10% of their delivery workers by April 2010 and 80% by 2012. But so far they have fallen far short of reaching that.
At the moment, most budget postal firm staff are paid per item of post they deliver, so they earn around €6 a hour. They are not members of the pension scheme or entitled to sick pay and holiday pay.
Contract
If no agreement is reached, budget company staff must be given a permanent contract and earn at least the minimum wage – which is just under €8 an hour.
The companies argue formal employment contracts would make them go bankrupt, and want to renegotiate the deal.
Meanwhile, postal unions are to press ahead with their one-day strike on Tuesday. They are protesting at TNT’s plans to sack 3,100 workers in order to cut costs and head off competition from the budget companies.