Ceska posta to cut nearly 900 jobs this year
State-run postal services operator Ceska posta will reduce its workforce by 860 to 37,450 staff this year following the windup of its technical support unit in October 2005, spokesman Ladislav Vancura has told CTK.
Last year, Ceska posta dismissed around 600 staff.
Wages at Ceska posta should grow by 5.3 percent in 2006, Vancura said, adding that an agreement with the unions is to be signed next week.
The average monthly wage at the company reached Kc15,592 last year. The wage growth was 0.2 percentage point slower than that planned for 2006.
Early in December, the Czech Telecoms Office (CTU) granted Ceska posta a licence to provide basic postal services in the Czech Republic for another three years.
The licence gives its holder a monopoly on the delivery of mail weighing under 50 grammes and with postage under Kc18.
The company must in turn ensure that basic postal services are accessible throughout the whole area of the Czech Republic.
Ceska posta runs about 3,400 post offices and plans to widen its network in shopping centres where it wants to sell insurance and offer banking services besides mail delivery and the financial services it already provides.
Post offices should also issue official documents such as extracts from police records and the land register. Selected offices have also been providing electronic signature certificates since autumn.
Ceska posta CEO Karel Kratina said earlier that the company did not plan a price increase for this year. Last February, Ceska posta raised prices by 14 percent on average.
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