27 May 2009 - David Lynch - © Hellmail Postal News

Billy Hayes, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, said top represent some 150,000 postal workers, added his voice to claims by UNI Global that postal liberalisation is leading to unemployment, attacks on working conditions and poorer service for customers.

“We’ve said for a long while that liberalisation doesn’t benefit the market. The UNI report shows that postal services are public services and don’t sit well in the private sector.”

His comment follows a UNI global study carried out in 13 countries that indicated that full liberalisation of the postal market was failing.

Neil Anderson, Head of UNI Post & Logistics said:

"What we have been seeing in Germany and the Netherlands recently - postal companies demanding lower wages and announcing big job cuts, is the inevitable disastrous conclusion of a failed liberalisation policy. Our research shows the economic crisis is a catalyst for liberalisation and for social dumping that companies like TNT and Deutsche Post are proposing."

The study examined the effects of liberalisation on workers and response from unions. UNI found that the economic theory backing up liberalisation was questionable and that there was little competition in the liberalised postal markets, with new entrants obtaining from 0.1% to 10% of market share. The study also revealed that there are very few competitors to the incumbent, in most cases between one and four.

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