La Poste - French postal unions call for strike in Paris

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PARIS: French postal unions called on Monday for unlimited strike action at post offices in Paris, a day ahead of a nationwide protest against
proposed reforms to the country's state-owned postal service.

Workers at 185 branches of La Poste in Paris say they are angry at recent cost-saving measures which have seen 140 jobs cut in the last six months at postal counters across the city.

Unions and opposition parties are fearful that a proposal to change La Poste into a public-limited company may lead to the eventual privatisation of the popular operator.

"Why change its status if the aim is not to prepare for a change in its ownership structure?" Olivier Besancenot, spokesman of the Communist Revolutionary League, told France Inter radio.

French Labour Minister Xavier Darcos denied that any such plans were afoot. "There's no question of a privatisation, the service will remain 100 percent public, no private funds will enter its capital," he told France Info radio.

The French government signed off on the proposals at the start of the summer, saying the change in status was necessary to prepare for the sector's liberalisation in 2011 under European Union rules.

Under the plans, the government will provide a capital injection of 2.7 billion euros, directly and via state-owned bank Caisse des Depots (CDC), which La Poste says it needs to become more competitive.

La Poste is taking steps to streamline its operations and stem the decline in its profits. In the first six months of 2009, profits fell 19 percent while revenues slipped 2 percent.