Tag: Europe

Plans by Deutsche Post, Germany’s postal company, to lay off thousands of staff will this week reignite the row over sackings. German ministers have demanded that consumers boycott the products and services of profitable firms that axe their workforces. The sackings will embarrass and anger Chancellor Gerhard Schroder’s ruling Social Democrats (SPD), because the company is state-controlled. According to Deutsche Post chairman, Klaus Zumwinkel, declining income in the letter-carrying sector could force the group to cut as many as 6,000 jobs. Leading members of the SPD, including vice-chairwoman Ute Vogt, recently called for a boycott of profitable companies that lay off workers as unemployment rose to 5m, almost 11% of the working population. If they were to do the same with Deutsche Post, the SPD would be telling Germans to stop patronising a company in which it has a 56% stake.

German post operator Deutsche Post might have to cut up to 6,000 jobs due to the legally forced co-operation with rivals, group CEO Klaus Zumwinkel said in an interview to German daily Die Welt on May 6, 2005. The consolidation of the private mailing firms will result in some 200 mln euro (USD259 mln) less turnover for Deutsche Post, he said. That means that the group will have to cut more than 6,000 jobs over the years to offset the falling sales, Zumwinkel added. Deutsche Post does not expect any significant drops in turnover after 2008 when its monopoly on the mailing market will be revoked. Zumwinkel referred to countries such as Sweden, in which the deregulation on the market brought no considerable changes.