A group of thirty trade union delegates from the Workers’ Commissions and the UGT occupied the headquarters building of the Provincial Headquarters of Mail in the Plaza de España in Santa Cruz de Tenerife to express their rejection of the “dismantling” of the public postal company and what they understand as “dismantling and scrapping” that results in a “bad service to citizens.” The intention was to carry out a bull run, but given the difficulties in carrying it out, they concentrated at the door of the building and then made a tour that took them to the roof where they unfurled several banners until they formed the motto “Post Office is not for sale”.
Pedro Segura, from the Workers’ Commissions, and Carmen Dorta, from the General Union of Workers, valued the mobilization at the doors of the building as “a success”, despite the fact that, they assured, the management “even kept the emergency doors locked. ». This, they point out, “is equivalent to putting the workers in the interior at serious risk in the face of any emergency that may have arisen at that time.”
“Bad management.”
The unions criticize “the disastrous management in the Canary Islands and, especially, in Tenerife where Mr. Pablo Iván comes out to deny the whole reality of Correos». They consider that “his own management of him is putting the company into technical bankruptcy.” During the concentration they have insisted that “a public and quality service for citizens is possible, but also profitable, as shown by the income statements of the rest of the postal companies in Europe”. Unionists understand that “the disastrous management is premeditated to have the excuse of a future sale.”
Union representatives also believe that the very viability of the company is at stake and the future of the 1,200 workers in Tenerife and in general of the almost 40,000 throughout the state.
The protest actions do not end here, since the general strike warning is maintained for June 1, 2 and 3 with a planned demonstration before the Congress of Deputies in Madrid. They do not forget to mention the options of new encampments or other types of protest actions. They will go “as far as it takes” to achieve “reverse the situation and the current model.”
CCOO Y UGT They denounce «the lies of Correos because a week ago they said that nothing was happening and now they recognize an internal reorganization. While they lie, we workers continue to fight to guarantee our future. They will do so through mobilizations carried out under the slogan Save Correos with the most immediate horizon in the call for the general strike.
Abandonment.
The public complaint aims to reveal “the policy of abandonment of the public postal service and the Post Office”, which has caused “the collapse of the workload” and “an economically unsustainable situation” with losses of almost 600 million euros since 2019, plus the 100 negative for the 2021 financial year. «A structural deficit that places it on the verge of technical bankruptcy. A scrapping policy» they conclude.
Guarantees of the best service.
Correos denies, through a statement, the union accusations and guarantees both the provision and quality of the universal postal service “under the same conditions of equity, accessibility, affordability and non-discrimination” established by the Law. They insist from the company that “there is no privatization plan”. They remember that “Correos is a 100% public company, owned by the State and will continue to be so”. Nor is there, despite what has been reported, «a transfer of activity to Correos Express because collaboration with its subsidiaries is delimited in the regulations.
Without giving it up.
Correos guarantees that it has not stopped providing service in any population of the Canary Islands but that alleges «adaptation of the distribution structure to be more efficient, without loss of quality, an obligation as a public operator and without dismantling or weakening the service». In fact, “the company is advancing in the digitization of the 2,295 customer service points it has in rural areas, 70 in the Canary Islands.” These offices will be “fully digitized and connected” to facilitate citizen access to all services “on equal terms.” Finally, the company insists that «Correos neither makes layoffs nor destroys employment but works for the stable and quality with a commitment to social dialogue.
