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On Friday, the Federal Ministry of Economics in Germany unveiled a proposal to reform postal regulations, aiming to alleviate time constraints on letter transportation. As reported by zeit.de, the stipulation requiring the delivery of at least 80 percent of submitted letters by the following working day is set to be eliminated.
Under the proposed legislation, this obligation would shift to the third working day after posting, with the expectation that 95% would reach the addressee by that time. This adjustment is anticipated to yield cost reductions and the cessation of nocturnal flights currently employed for letter transport.
The Postal Act establishes the parameters for postal and parcel services in Germany and it also has the potential to establish baseline criteria for wages and working conditions applicable to all licensed companies, thereby addressing exploitative conditions prevalent in parcel delivery.
The law was last revised in 1999 when the internet had yet to assume a significant role in how people communicate, says Social Democrat Sebastian Roloff, who supports the amendment to the law, including the altered delivery times, which, in his opinion, could lead to potential reductions in the CO2 emissions.
On the flip side, the Verdi trade union is sounding the alarm, expressing concerns about a significant reduction in jobs due to the decreased time constraints.
Andrea Kocsis, Vice President of Verdi, warned over the weekend of a “serious threat” to jobs governed by collective agreements. She firmly rejected the proposed shift in working hours and issued an urgent call to the federal government and the Bundestag for a revision of the law.
Meanwhile, as marketscreener.com reports, Deutsche Post has responded with caution to the ministry’s proposals for the reform, stating that the draft “acknowledges certain realities”. However, the company expresses reservations about the new regulations, emphasizing that it is currently challenging to determine whether the draft supports an economically viable universal postal service.