The union representing postal workers has strongly condemned a decision by the postal service company Itella to send home nearly 500 workers. The union says the redundancies were avoidable and that Itella could have resorted to natural attrition and retirement.
The postal workers' union says Itella's plan to reduce the number of boots on the ground will lead to an erosion of distribution services.
According to the Post and Logistics Union PAU the elimination of 500 jobs announced Thursday by state-owned postal company Itella will effectively lead to the gradual shutdown of postal distribution.
The union charged that postal distribution workers who keep their jobs will not be able to discharge their duties. The union noted that the Postal Act obligates Itella to distribute mail equally across the country on weekdays, something that cannot be done with a small workforce.
The PAU said that the co-determination talks could have been avoided.
“Itella had the opportunity to use softer measures before to turning to the co-determination process – such as natural attrition and retirement. However it didn’t want to do this,” association secretary Heidi Nieminen declared in a release.