Czech Post will cut 950 jobs by the middle of the year due to a reduction of 300 branches. Another 500 jobs will be cut in the logistics network, Miroslav Štěpán, the post’s director general in charge, said yesterday. Local politicians oppose the announced closure of the post offices. The Union of Towns and Municipalities (SMO) said yesterday that it will negotiate with the management of the state enterprise about the planned transformation after the Easter holidays so that the post office network remains functional. The union wants the government not to approve the branch closure plan before discussing it with municipalities.
By closing some of the branches, the post office wants to save about CZK 700 million a year. The move should help it avoid falling into insolvency this year. According to Štěpán, the reduction in the minimum number of branches from 3,200 to 2,900 should be the last by the end of next year. The post office does not intend to change the range of services it provides.
The post office, which currently employs just under 23,000 people, originally said it would lay off 1,600 postmen and eliminate up to 2,269 jobs by the middle of this year. Stepan said that 950 jobs will be eliminated in the middle of the year due to the reduction in the number of branches. The company will cut another 500 jobs in its logistics network by the same date.
According to Štěpán, even fewer postmen will actually leave the branches because the company will offer some of them another position or retraining. The company will provide severance pay to the dismissed employees.
Most of the municipalities concerned do not agree with the closure of branches in their territory and want to negotiate with the company’s management. SMO chairman František Lukl said that the union will negotiate with the company’s management after Easter. He expects that the meeting of the post office representatives with all mayors and mayors of the municipalities where the branches are to be closed will take place by the end of April so that the plan can be adjusted in May and June.
According to Lukl, the SMO understands the situation in which the Czech Post finds itself, but at the same time does not want the transformation to affect the functionality of the network. The union wants to actively cooperate in the negotiations, leaving the maximum freedom in the negotiations to the management of individual towns and municipalities.
The Prague mayors’ assembly was informed today that they want to meet with the post office management. They accuse the post office of inadequate communication and of neglecting a number of factors when choosing which branches to close. The Prague mayors are also asking the government not to approve the intended plan to close down post office branches until the negotiations are completed.
The Plzeň Region will send a request to Interior Minister Vít Rakušan (STAN) that the government postpone the deadline for the closure of the branches from 1 July this year to 1 January 2024. The proposal was supported by the mayors of all seven towns and villages in the region, where a total of 22 post offices are to be closed.
According to Rakusan, the Czech Post was threatened with insolvency this year. Last year, the company increased its losses to CZK 1.75 billion from CZK 681 million the previous year.
Despite the financial problems, the post office announced a tender for a customer satisfaction survey worth tens of millions of crowns at the end of February this year. The tender was announced by the marketing department under the former director of the post office, Roman Knap. However, according to the current management of the company, it is not certain whether the survey will take place. “The responsibility lies with marketing. And it has to agree with everyone whether what would eventually be the result of the tender is applicable to us in the conditions we are in now,” said Štěpán.
Source: Hospodářské noviny and CTK
