TNT Post is to cut its Dutch workforce by between 6,500 and 7,000 by 2010 and bring in a 30-month pay freeze, the company announced on Tuesday.

The job losses could reach 11,000, including compulsory redundancies if unions don’t agree to a reduction in secondary benefits across the board, TNT Post said.
‘It is a question of the lesser of two evils,’ a spokesman told ANP. ‘Either more jobs go or people accept a pay cut. It is as simple as that.’
The reorganisation will cover the entire company, but postal delivery workers will bear the brunt of the cuts. The company said in December it wanted to reduce costs by €300m because of growing competition in the postal delivery sector. TNT’s main rivals Sandd and Selektmail pay workers per item of post delivered rather than an hourly wage.
Unions have reacted angrily to the plans. ‘Delivery workers are at the bottom of the jobs market and a reduction in salary is non-discussable,’ said Anneke Stevens of Abvakabo FNV.
‘Delivering post should be seen as a proper job. It would be a pity if it was reduced to pin money for students and people who have taken early retirement.’
The CNV union said the plans were unacceptable and criticised the fact that the pay freeze would only apply to senior management’s basic pay for one year.
TNT employs some 60,000 people in the Netherlands, of whom around 25,000 deliver mail.