Labour precariousness affecting Spanish postal workers

21.7.2015

Question for written answer E-011775-15
to the Commission
Rule 130
Lidia Senra Rodríguez (GUE/NGL)

The Spanish postal service Correos has shrunk from 66 367 employees in 2009 to 50 668 in 2014, i.e. it has lost around 25% of its workforce in the space of five years.

This reduction has been achieved by not recruiting new staff when existing staff have retired or moved, and by cutting down on contract staff to cover for permanent staff while they are on parental and other leave, sick or on holiday.

At the same time, Correos made a profit of EUR 48 million in 2013.

These job cuts are causing problems for the public, since post is constantly piling up and being delayed (with the result that people are not receiving notifications, medical appointments, insurance bills, final demands with the threat of supplies being cut off, etc.). They are also creating unacceptable working conditions for staff, who are being assigned to delivery rounds that are impossible to complete during working hours, particularly if they are also expected to take on extra tasks to cover for people who have retired or are on holiday.

The decline in the quality of the Spanish postal service and precarious working conditions for its staff are the result of the privatisation process being pushed through by the government.

Will the Commission act in relation to Spain’s failure to comply with Articles 3, 4, 5, 6, 13 and 16 of Directive 97/67/EC and recitals 19, 20, 21 and 22 of Directive 2008/6/EC?