Tag: France

Demonstrating French tobacconists in the southwestern region of Gironde seized a mail sorting centre on Friday to protest about unfair competition from French postal operator La Poste. The tobacconists said that local post offices are encroaching on their business by selling additional products such as mobile phone cards and greeting cards, while tobacconists obtain a profit margin of just 3 per cent from selling postage stamps, along with an allegedly meager compensation for offering basic postal services when a nearby post office closes.

The French trade unions FO, CGT and SUD have decided to protest against the proposed incorporation into French law of European directives on the liberalisation of the postal services market by urging employees of the French post office, La Poste, to stop work for 24hrs when the legislation comes before the French parliament on January 18. The bill in question also gives La Poste the right to set up a credit institution.”