Federal Council to Rethink Postal Reorganization

Announcement of the Swiss Postal Service’s intention to reduce the existing 11 sorting centers to just four facilities triggered disgruntlement and some vehement protests among postal workers and the unions. So last Tuesday Federal Councilor Leuenberger declared that alternatives to the radical restructuring plan would be examined. To that end, according to an announcement from the Ministry for Environment, Transportation, Energy and Communications (ETEC), the Council has invited the cantons involved, along with labor and management, to consultations on the matter. The talks will take a closer look at the massive social and regional impact of the planned postal restructuring and discuss other possibilities for reorganization. The ETEC has so far released no further details about possible alternatives.
The ministry announcement said that, on the basis of the consultations, policy proposals will be made to the Postal Service’s board of directors. So far, Leuenberger has merely instructed the Postal Service to implement the restructuring without job layoffs and in as socially responsible a manner as possible. The first concrete threat of a strike in the event of the initial plan’s implementation was already heard last Thursday from Geneva. Employees of the postal center there declared that there will be a work stoppage if management definitely decides to reduce the number of mail sorting centers. Similarly bellicose words were heard from other parts of the country.