"I have the ball in my stomach" ... The concern of postal workers facing the coronavirus

• Faced with a grumbling union, La Poste said Monday that it would refocus on "essential missions".
• The management ensures to offer fewer services and and reduce its tours to less expose its employees during the coronavirus crisis.
• Many postal workers remain worried about their working conditions and their health in the face of the epidemic.

The tour, with "the ball in the stomach" In the midst of a coronavirus epidemic, mail distribution is maintained. The mail carriers are not concerned by the confinement decided by Emmanuel Macron and his government.

On Sunday March 15, the day after the first stage 3 measurements, La Poste said it would ensure "the continuity of its essential activities for the population, with absolute respect for the health of its employees and customers". Faced with the discontent of the unions, the company announced Monday service restrictions to less expose its agents. Because in the field, many postal workers denounce insufficient measures to protect their health and that of the public in the face of the pandemic.

# Covid19France | #LaPoste as a public service company and "operator of vital importance for the country" maintains the continuity of its essential activities for the population, with absolute respect for the health of its employees and customers. # Press release 👇 pic.twitter.com/sbDbEvbsx6

"Colleagues are very scared"

“We continued to go to work when the gloves and the frost were slow to arrive. We only had two wipes per person to clean our phone after having customers sign for the registered letters ”, worries Jean *, at the Post Office for 11 years. “I had a lump in my stomach every morning, I felt in danger. For sorting in the office, there is no confinement, there are more than 200, one on top of the other. Then, we go all day in the buildings, we meet people, we pull the doors, we press the buttons ... To take the mail, we must take off the gloves, which tear. We don't feel protected enough, ”added the postman, who decided to take sick leave.

"We are in constant contact with people, we can see up to fifty people per tour, so we expose ourselves even if we pay attention", denounces Mohamed *, Parisian postman for twenty years, unionized in Sud- PTT. "People know us, and know what time it is, they are waiting for us outside their box to chat a little, especially the elderly. We're not going to say "coronavirus, get away!" "

Philippe * confirms: “The colleagues are very afraid, because people approach us without respecting barrier gestures. One postilion is enough to get infected, ”he says. "A few days ago, a person in our department was affected by the virus and is hospitalized, it created a lot of concern", denounces the Parisian postman, also unionized at Sud-PTT. Worried, many postal workers have claimed their right of withdrawal anywhere in the country last week.

“Some customers continue to come to the office to buy stamps. Is it really urgent? "

The management says to apply "all the measures recommended by the health authorities", in particular by promoting the washing of the hands of its agents during their tour, "by opening the premises of tobacconists and service stations". The management claims to have maintained 80% of its workforce among the letter carriers and continues to open 1,600 post offices out of the 7,740 present throughout the territory to carry out essential missions.

“Some customers keep coming to the office to buy stamps or send their Easter letter. Is it really urgent? We must quickly define which public service missions to maintain and ensure that the 70,000 factors that crisscross the country protect themselves and are not a factor in the spread of the virus, "worries Anne Chatain, president of the CFTC federation. media + (which manages the posts and telecoms)

Last Friday, in a letter to the Minister of the Economy and CEO Philippe Wahl, unions (CGT, CFDT, SUD, CFE-CGC, CFTC and Unsa) all alerted to the health and social situation within the group. "Fears are everywhere, mainly in distribution and for those who receive users in offices, says Sylvain Le Roux, activist CGT in the Rhône. We also know that there are deaths linked to the coronavirus, proven cases, confined people… What we are asking for is the restriction to the strict minimum of postal activities so as not to expose colleagues and the population ”.

The company announced the suspension of its activities this Saturday, to "relieve the postal workers who worked all week". This Monday, after consultation with the unions, management says to refocus La Poste on its "essential missions" by providing fewer services and reducing working time and tours, in order to less expose its employees. The distribution of mail, parcels and small goods is however maintained, at a rate depending on the staff available.

"Things are changing, but it is the reality that is imposed on them, because there are no longer enough staff to carry out the activity," reacts Sylvain Le Roux. Philippe sighs. “The management of La Poste has not been human for a long time. It is better to save lives rather than letters, right? "

* At the request of the respondents, the first names have been changed.

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• Coronavirus
• Society
• epidemic
• The post office