The battle over postal services continued last week as SLP-CISL (Italy) hosted a high profile convention on the issue

Several hundred delegates cheered the words of SLP General Secretary Mario Petitto as he vowed to continue the fight against reckless liberalisation of one of Europe’s most treasured services. Among the speakers, including Poste Italiane representatives, parliamentarians and other stakeholders, was the Italian Minister for Communications, Paolo Gentiloni, who reported that the fight in the European Council was far from over as governments including his own and those of Spain, France, Belgium and Poland seek to curb the poorly considered, neoliberal overtures of the European Commission. Mr,. Gentiloni claimed that the legal uncertainty that would be created by the Commission’s new proposals on financing for the universal service obligation could threaten the guaranteed services currently afforded to all EU citizens.

Speaking on behalf of UNI, Sam Ironside explained the history behind the current debate, including the failure of stakeholders to prevent the concept of ever-greater liberalisation way back in 1994. Ironside called on all UNI affiliates to follow the excellent example of SLP in engaging their ministries ahead of the next Council discussions. He also challenged Italian and all affiliates to take the fight for terms and conditions in the sector to the front line – the new competitor companies and the integrators, such as DHL and TNT. This, he argued, was the only way to fight the constant pressure on salary levels throughout the sector.