French outrage at La Poste closures
Plans to close more than half of France’s post offices as part of a reform of the state-owned postal service has provoked fury.
Postal workers, unions and provincial mayors protested as it emerged that 6,000 of the 11,500 offices, mostly in rural areas, are to be closed.
Their business will be transferred to local shops at an estimated cost of 10,000 jobs.
The plans to reform La Poste, renowned as the most generously resourced postal service in Europe, were discreetly drawn up by managers over the summer.
Jacques Pernoud, the mayor of La Biolle in Alpine Savoie region, was outraged. “The post office doesn’t give a damn,” he said. “The public service is in danger.”
