The union renews its long-standing criticism of working conditions in the parcel sector. During the Christmas period, six working days a week of fourteen hours each are “the order of the day” for independent parcel deliverers, says Vida trade unionist Karl Delfs. In Vienna, delivery drivers sometimes have to deliver “up to 250 parcels” per day. The “illegal practice” of paying delivery people per package must stop.
Trade union Vida has been calling on the government for years to establish driving times for delivery drivers, liability for parcel senders and stricter controls by the financial police. Many logistics companies would rely on self-employed persons with a business permit via subcontractors.
It is difficult for the association to estimate how many independent parcel deliverers there are in Austria. The collective labor agreement for small carriers applies to private parcel deliverers and the Post-KV applies to the partly state-owned Austrian Post.
A total of 351.5 million parcels are expected for 2023
Despite a leveling off boom in online retail, package volumes continue to rise significantly. For the whole of 2023, the regulatory body RTR expects that around 351.5 million parcels will be delivered in Austria. This is an increase of approximately 8.4 percent compared to 2022.
According to RTR, in the second quarter of 2023, Austrian Post had a market share of approximately 51.8 percent of delivered parcels, followed by Amazon Transport Austria with 15.6 percent, DPD (14.7 percent), GLS (6.7 percent ) and other postal companies with 11.1 percent.
According to the Social Democratic Entrepreneurs Association, the large parcel service providers “must be held responsible”. “As an advocate, I am often confronted with the precarious conditions of parcel delivery,” said SWV Austria Vice President Katarina Pokorny in a recent press release.
demands on politics
Pokorny calls on politicians for changes “to create clear conditions” in the parcel sector. It is “incomprehensible that people simply take note of these working conditions and contractual relationships and do not think about the people who perform this work.” There are no working hours restrictions for parcel couriers who work as a self-employed person.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
