Great Britain: Royal Mail is closing 73 post offices, transferred to a bookstore-news stand chain

The Royal Mail public post office is going to close 70 main post offices and transfer them to the WH Smith chain, specialized in the sale of books and newspapers. The CWU, the communication sector's union, is asking the public to "boycott WH Smith to defend the public service" and threatens to strike in order to protest against the suppression of the jobs of civil servants (3,000 according to statistics, 1,300 according to Royal Mail). (Ref. 070362)
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The Post Office is justifying this agreement by the need to maintain the network’s profitability: the 450 crown offices, gathered within the Post Office subsidiary, total a 105 million euros’ loss. Located mainly in large cities, they belong for 100% to the public group Royal Mail, whereas 17,000 sub post offices in the country are already working under a system of licenses in grocery stores, pubs, and all kinds of convenience stores. “Fundamentally, this partnership aims at maintaining the mai

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