Bpost management and unions have approved a draft agreement on the reorganisation of work at the postal services provider. This brings the strike that has disrupted postal deliveries, especially in southern Belgium, to an end. Unions hope to further develop the agreement with Bpost in coming weeks and completely resolve the social conflict that has dogged the company. In Brussels and in the south of Belgium, a strike against the reorganisation of postal delivery rounds has been under way for nearly 2 weeks now.
‘We are happy that we are able to take this step after these long negotiations,’ says Annick Boon of the Christian union ACV. ‘Bpost provided an opening that allows us to work with them to improve the organisational process and to see how we can be on the ball more quickly, if problems arise.’
Now all unions have approved the draft agreement, the strike that has been under way for 2 weeks in Brussels and the south of the country is at an end. ‘I feel among my colleagues that they want to give the agreement a chance and will lift the blockades. In coming days, postal distribution should normalise.’
The socialist union has also confirmed that the blockades will be lifted, even though the union is not entirely convinced by Bpost's proposals.
Reorganisation 'improved'
According to Christian union ACV, there is still a long way to go before the unions find full agreement with Bpost. ‘Especially in the south of the country, there was a lot of distrust, because talks on a reorganisation went awry and no solutions were found. There was a breach of trust.’
But the unions have the ambition to exit from the present social conflict. ‘We will see in the coming weeks how we can improve the reorganisation in practise and whether Bpost can deliver on this commitment.’
Earlier today, Bpost revealed that it had constructive talks with the unions.