Press releases

Basel logistics center to make way for train station complex

The rust-red postal building above the tracks of Basel SBB train station is to make way for a new high-quality complex known as “Nauentor”. SBB and Swiss Post are planning an urban development complex with apartments and space for business and services by 2025/2028 in the heart of the city. The new station district in Basel is primarily intended to serve the public and not be a production site. With this in mind, Swiss Post intends to move all the functions of the Basel logistics center except for the business customer counters to the Härkingen letter sorting center by mid-2020. Concentrating these functions at the Härkingen site is a response to the continual decline in letter volumes over recent years and a drop in the capacity utilization of sorting systems. Swiss Post will start the relevant consultation process in mid-June. Final decisions will be made in autumn 2018.

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The realignment of existing letter processing in the Basel area is taking shape with the redesign of the Basel station district and the complete demolition of the ageing Swiss Post building down to its foundations. With fewer letters posted and cost pressures mounting, one of Swiss Post’s business tasks is to review and continually improve existing internal processes and realize optimization potential. Only by doing so can Swiss Post continue to offer suitable services at its customary high level of quality. The volume of addressed letters has dropped by an average of 1-2 percent in recent years. Over the past two years, this decline has grown to around 4 percent. A study thoroughly examined the situation and processes and concluded that it would make sense to integrate the work at the Basel logistics center into the Härkingen letter center. The required system capacities and floorspace are available at Härkingen.

Over 80 employees affected by the change

If Swiss Post Executive Management definitively decides to integrate the Basel logistics center into the Härkingen letter center located in the neighbouring Canton of Solothurn by autumn of this year, 86 employees (around 71 of whom are full-time) will be affected by the change. Swiss Post would carry out the integration into the Härkingen letter center by 2020 in a socially responsible manner. It intends to provide employees with a reasonable offer. The relevant Swiss Post social plan has been drafted and is ready for staff employed under the Swiss Post collective employment contract (CEC). Swiss Post envisages cutting around 15 full-time positions. It is expected that these job cuts will occur through natural staff turnover but long-term planning should ensure that compulsory redundancies can be avoided wherever possible.

Consultation process begins in June

As usual, Swiss Post is announcing the intended reorganization as early as possible to ensure there is enough time to plan and implement the transformation in a socially responsible manner. If the planned changes have an impact on employees, Swiss Post will hold the necessary consultation process beforehand. This also applies in the event that moving out of the production site at Basel train station is unavoidable due to the level of renovation needed. The consultation process starts from 12 June.

Link to the SBB and Swiss Post construction project: www.nauentor.ch

Information:
Oliver Flüeler, Media Spokesperson, 058 341 21 95, presse@swisspost.ch

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