Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Federal Minister Vanessa Matz is mediating between the post’s management and protesting unions to resolve work structure disputes. Protests have caused delivery delays, affecting 800,000 parcels. Matz aims to foster dialogue for stability, employee well-being, and customer satisfaction
Federal Minister Vanessa Matz has asked Bpost’s management and unions to start talking again. She wants to solve the problems in the postal company. Matz invited union leaders to a meeting this afternoon February 15, 2025. She plans to listen to their concerns and understand the issues.
She will also meet with Bpost’s CEO on Monday, February 17, 2025. Matz wants both sides to engage in talks and find solutions. She said the company’s stability, employee well-being, and customer satisfaction are very important.
“During that meeting, the minister will “listen to all their demands that are causing the blockage within the company”,
Matz said.
Will Vanessa Matz resolve the Bpost worker protests?
Vanessa Matz took office on February 3, 2025, in Prime Minister Bart De Wever’s government. She wants to improve communication between public companies and their workers. Matz is responsible for Public Enterprises, Digitalization, Artificial Intelligence, and Privacy. She supports better working conditions and employee rights. She mentioned that as one of 4 women in a 15-member cabinet, she also promotes gender equality. She wants both management and unions to share their concerns and work together.
Bpost workers in southern Belgium have been protesting for over a week against changes to their work structure. The protests started in Tournai and spread to other parts of Wallonia. On Friday, February 14, 2025 union members blocked key sorting centres in Liège, Charleroi, and Brussels. This caused major delays in mail and parcel delivery, affecting about 800,000 parcels.
Workers say the management’s plan would increase their workloads and harm their working conditions. After a meeting on Friday, workers rejected the new proposal, so the protests and delays are likely to continue.
Federal Minister of Public Enterprises, Vanessa Matz is asking management and unions to start talking again to fix the problem. She invited union leaders to a meeting to hear their worries and will also meet with Bpost’s CEO.
Minister Matz says that good talks are important for the company, its workers, and its customers. She mentioned that the strike is still affecting Bpost, with only 2 sorting centres in Flanders, in Ghent and Antwerp, working normally.
