The postman will ring as many times as he wants, but in "high urban density areas" he will also ring in the afternoon and on Saturdays, while in small towns he will ring every other day. These are the main innovations introduced by the first accord of the Caius era between trade unions and the Italian post office, in view of the forthcoming listing on the stock exchange. The agreement, which concerns the reorganization of delivery with an eye to improving quality standards, arrived this morning after two days of negotiations.
“With this agreement, the restructuring of the postal address begins – he explains Mario Petitto, secretary of Slp Cisl, the majority trade union in the group -, with deliveries in some areas on alternate days, the strengthening of deliveries in metropolitan areas, where more deliveries are also expected in the afternoon and on Saturdays. The focus is also on e-commerce which will become increasingly important”.
The agreement “does not provide for layoffs – continues Petitto -. The surpluses, about a thousand by 2015, will be managed above all with relocations and sometimes even voluntary mobility”. Today's agreement is only the first in a series of agreements that will continue to affect delivery and other sectors of the group that it will soon be listed on the Stock Exchange. And they are part of the reorganization aimed at this goal.
In turn Poste Italiane, whose full text of the communiqué is reproduced below, underlines how the agreement constitutes “an effective tool for proceeding with the reorganization of the sector, in a framework of sharing with the social partners, and in the wake of a scenario marked by a significant recovery of revenues in the first half of 2015”. And being the first agreement reached by the new CEO Francesco Caio with the unions, the yes of the workers' organizations sounds like an appreciation of the new course of the Italian post office of which the imminent IPO is a fundamental step.
The one signed by the unions is a framework agreement which also provides for delivery on Saturdays and will therefore have to be implemented for future years. "In a very delicate moment for the future of all postal operators in the world, due to the progressive decrease in volumes of paper correspondence, the agreement signed between Poste Italiane and the trade unions - Petitto underlines again in a note - is a first step important for the reorganization of the mail and logistics services of the largest company in the country". According to the trade unionist, this agreement "strengthens the industrial relations system in Poste Italiane at the very moment in which the postal company begins an important process of listing on the Stock Exchange".
Here is the full text of the Press release of Poste Italiane on the agreement with the unions:
“In view of the forthcoming listing on the stock exchange, Poste Italiane and the trade union organizations have signed the hypothesis of an agreement on the reorganization of the Post, Communication and Logistics function, envisaged by the "Poste 2020" Strategic Plan. The agreement, signed by all the trade unions except UILposte, which has reserved the right to subject the agreement to further study, is a sign of appreciation by the trade union organizations for the work done so far by management.
The agreement follows a series of evaluation meetings on the operational innovations envisaged by the Plan and constitutes an effective tool for proceeding with the reorganization of the sector in a framework shared with the social partners. The agreement also enforces the principle of raising the quality standard. The Plan moves in a scenario marked by a significant recovery in Poste Italiane's revenues in the first half of 2015 compared to the same period of the previous year, but still characterized by the decline in traditional mail revenues, albeit slower in recent months.
The Development Plan for the Post, Communication and Logistics function establishes the guidelines: on the rationalization of the primary Logistics Network, on the separation of the "sorting and classification" phases from the mail distribution phases and on the integration of logistics flows between Post Italian and SDA. Lastly, it establishes the diversification of delivery models according to specific business needs, the orographic characteristics of the area and the density of logistics flows.
The new delivery model introduces an organizational structure that identifies three areas differentiated by intensity of postal volumes and with a specific type of service. For the Metropolitan areas with high "postal density" and strong competitive pressure, the creation of a network dedicated to delivery to the addressee is envisaged, which will be called "Linea Plus Metropolitana". In the Provincial capitals and non-regulated extra-urban areas the delivery service will be carried out every other day with the creation of an additional structure which will mainly ensure the daily delivery of products with service level j+1. The Regulated extra-urban areas finally, they include around 5300 municipalities in which delivery will be performed every other day, as envisaged by AGCOM resolution no. 395/15/cons.
The agreement also addresses the issue of the impact on employment linked to the evolution of operating processes and the increase in efficiency, quality and innovation of the service. Poste Italiane has undertaken not to resort to the collective dismissal procedures pursuant to art. 4 and 24 of the law n. 223/91.
Lastly, the agreement envisages a close dialogue process with the trade union organisations, at national and territorial level, which will develop in synchrony with the progressive temporal and operational development of the Plan”.
