Chance to restart postal privatisation in Romania

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Labour deal offers chance to restart postal privatisation in Romania

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The Romanian government has claimed success in negotiations with unions over a new labour deal.

A series of meetings took place last month between Romanian Post and the Trade Union of Postal Workers of Romania (SLPR) amid public protests and strikes by 4,000 union members after “two tough years for postal workers” during a transformation of the Post.

The government’s communications ministry mediated the negotiations.

The ministry said the talks ended with a new protocol signed, along with the amendment of the existing collective bargaining agreement.

The protocol provides wage increases and pledges on the supply of equipment and uniforms, along with other measures to improve the working conditions of postal employees, the ministry said.

Wage increases will be linked to the financial performance of Romanian Post.

The labour deal could prove an important step towards restarting the delayed privatisation process for Romanian Post. Last month government ministers said that to successfully complete the sale, they needed all industrial disputes to be resolved.

The government said it was important to ensure the health and financial stability of Romanian Post, to attract serious investors to participate in the privatisation of the company.

Romanian Post has been profitable for the past six months, and made a RON 22.5m (EUR 5.11m) operating profit in the first quarter of 2014.

Priority

Communications minister Răzvan Cotovelea said: “The priority for Romanian Post management, more than ever, is to increase the company’s revenue, which in conjunction with effective management of existing resources to strengthen the positive results to date, and prevent a return to a major deficit.”

Romanian Post’s transformation has seen its management staff numbers cut by 55% between March 2012 and March 2014, from 388 to 173, with administrative staff cut by 16% from 2,128 to 1,771, and operational staff cut by 11% or 3,650 employees.

The company was taken over by a new management team in May 2012 while on the brink of insolvency having lost more than RON 480m (EUR 109m) between 2009 and 2011.

The privatisation process was put on hold last summer after the government attracted minimal interest from serious investors. Ministers had been looking to sell a 51% stake in the company as part of an inward investment deal with the International Monetary Fund.