Newspaper contract safeguards 3,500 Bpost jobs

The government’s decision to give Bpost the contract for delivering newspapers and magazines has safeguarded 3,500 jobs that would otherwise have been at risk, according to analysis by business magazine Trends. The sum paid by the government for the service, part of a package of “services of general economic importance”, counts for a lesser share of the organisation’s income than before but remains crucial in other ways.

The new contract comes into effect at the end of the year and runs until 2020. For the first time, the job of delivering the press to subscribers was put out to tender on EU instructions, with AMP and BD Group also competing. However, they withdrew from the process.

Bpost had warned that the loss of the delivery service would cost up to 3,500 jobs. In addition, the contract imposes certain other conditions on Bpost: the maintenance of a network of 1,300 service points, at least half of which must be full-service post offices – of which each municipality in the country must have at least one. Bpost must also supply a range of public services alongside its commercial activities, including banking services, home delivery of pensions and administrative handling of fines.

The government subsidy for these tasks stands at €261 million a year, falling to €245 million by 2020. “The subsidy may be less, but it was a choice between work and no work,” union representative Jean-Pierre Nyns said.

Meanwhile, children can send their present wishes to Saint Nicholas by post, with the opening of the annual postal service for children’s letters. Each letter sent will receive a reply and a small surprise. To receive a reply by 6 December, letters should be sent before 30 November, but all letters received by mid-December will be answered. No stamps required. Send letters to: Sinterklaas, Spanjestraat 1, 0612 Hemel or Saint-Nicolas, Rue du Paradis 1, 0612 Ciel.

Photo courtesy Bpost