Some 250 Post Office workers, who came from all over the Island, responded to the unions’ call CCOO and UGT to gather in front of the company’s headquarters in the Plaza de España in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. They encrypt this support as representative of the feeling of 80% of the workforce. The objective was to “make visible” the rejection of the company’s strategic plan, which, according to the organizers, “It will mean the scrapping of the postal service in the Canary Islands».
Noisy, with their striking yellow shirts or vests, a multitude of flags – most of the convening unions, although some from the Republic slipped in before April 14 – and strategically located behind several banners with the Cabildo in the background. The presence of the president of the state company, Juan Manuel Serrano, a machango-mailbox with his face, was not lacking.
The unions claim that “with this plan, destructive business decisions are made to Post as a public service. This causes “an unsustainable economic situation, chaos and organizational disaster that can cause the bankruptcy of a 300-year-old institution.” The consequences for citizens translate into the closure of offices and distribution centers.
The union organizations state that “the aim is to turn urban and rural postmen into riders, that is, parcel carriers whose working conditions are precarious.” They number 400 jobs lost in the Canary Islands in recent years with the closure of a dozen offices. They demand “the reversal of this dismantling” and defend the base in a public and sustainable postal model with sufficient financing.
The idea was to appeal to society and institutions. Many onlookers followed the rally and had the support of politicians, such as the PP councilors in the Cabildo Manuel Fernández and Zaida González, as well as popular senator Antonio Alarcó. The Canary Coalition has also supported the protest.
Jonathan Marichal comes from Tacoronte and has been with the company for 17 years. He points out that “what we see is a path of reduction of jobs and of our rights.” He criticizes that they want to “turn Correos into a parcel company”.
Carmen Dorta works in Santa Cruz, but is from Buenavista del Norte. She has been in the Post Office for 22 years. She values union unity and argues; “They want a rural postman, like in my town in the hamlets of Teno, Masca, Carrizal, Las Portelas, El Palmar and Las Lagunetas, in addition to delivering alone, to sell merchandising and collect receipts.” In short, it «worsen the quality of service». She adds: “It is not the fault of the colleagues but of poor management.”
Pedro Segura, a trade unionist from the Workers’ Commissions, works at the Taco-Barranco Grande Unit. It states to be “afraid of not being able to retire”, the idea with which he entered the Post Office two decades ago. He has two sisters in the profession, in Tegueste and Los Llanos de Aridane (La Palma). She describes the mobilization as a success and promises to “continue the fight; It is only the beginning, even though it has already been two years of conflict.
“Neither privatization nor layoffs”
Correos highlights in a statement its process of “transformation, without privatization and without layoffs”, while ensuring that there is no “scrapping, dismantling, weakening or privatization of the service.” Likewise, it indicates that the collaboration with its subsidiaries, including Correos Express, is “within the usual synergies and delimited in the regulations”. The note responds to criticism from the unions and stresses that the process of transforming the business model is focused on “generating income that reverses a situation of loss of postal items, aggravated by the pandemic.” Correos explains that the transformation process has three axes: diversification, internationalization and improved efficiency. The objective is “to maintain the quality of service to citizens” with “stable and quality employment”. It clarifies that “it has not stopped” providing service in any population of the Canary Islands and they expose the progress in digitization. Regarding employment, it indicates that between 2020 and 2022, 7,386 permanent workers have been incorporated, 228 in the Canary Islands, within the framework of the temporary employment consolidation process. He denies the “job insecurity” of urban or rural postmen.
