PostNL and trade unions reach agreement in principle on collective labour agreements
The Hague - PostNL and the trade unions Bond van Post Personeel (BVPP), CNV Publieke Diensten and VHP2 have reached agreements in principle regarding a new PostNL collective labour agreement (CLA) and a new CLA for Saturday deliverers. These three unions will positively present the agreements to their members. A fourth union participating in the negotiations, FNV, will also submit the proposals to their members. Parties agreed a salary increase of 3 percent over 15 months. Agreements were also made on pension accrual, sustainable employability and hiring more parcel delivery staff.
Duration and salary increases
The new PostNL CLA will retroactively apply from 1 January 2019 up to and including 31 March 2020. The salary increase of in total 3 percent will be implemented in 3 steps. In addition, all employees covered by this CLA working full-time, will be paid a one-time compensation of 100 euro net in January 2020.
Employment
PostNL aims to create new jobs for more people. It has therefore been agreed that 500 extra parcel delivery staff will be hired in 2019, in order to facilitate the growth in Parcels and to reduce the workload for employees. In addition, PostNL will offer permanent contracts to 200 parcel deliverers with temporary positions, and to 30 parcel sorters in the international sorting centre in The Hague. The topic of contracting (hiring external agencies to organize parcel sorting in the evening and night shifts) was extensively discussed with the unions. Despite the fact PostNL was willing and ready to agree a different approach, it turned out that FNV was, regrettably, unwilling to come to an agreement.
Consultations
The outcome of the consultations is expected on 28 February 2019. The CLA for PostNL applies to approximately 18,000 PostNL employees. The CLA for Saturday deliverers applies to approximately 500 employees in total. Postal deliverers have a separate CLA.
About PostNL
We are PostNL, here for everyone, bringing it all together for 225 years. With an extensive network of nearly 5,800 PostNL points, 11,000 letterboxes, and over 900 automated, also open to various carriers, along with millions of users of the PostNL app, we're always close by. We aim to be everyone's favourite deliverer by making it as easy as possible to send and receive parcels and mail. With nearly 34,000 colleagues working with us, we are part of society. We offer a range of services, including mail and parcel delivery, logistic e-commerce solutions, and cross-border solutions. On an average weekday in the Benelux, we deliver 1.1 million parcels and 6.9 million letters. We are commitment to customer satisfaction, providing opportunities for our employees, and generating value for our stakeholders through growth, digitalisation, and sustainability.
We optimise and support our physical networks through the use of smart digital solutions and introduce new propositions that add value for our customers. And aim for sustainable employment relationships by being a good employer to all people working with and for us. We focus on sustainability, making many journeys on foot and by bicycle, increasingly using cleaner fuels and electric vehicles, and offering innovative city logistics. PostNL N.V. is a publicly traded company with a turnover of €3.2 billion in 2023, 62% of which e-commerce related.