Commercial pressure at the post office, employee stress in a trade union podcast

Commercial pressures in Poste Italiane. The new report comes from the trade unionists of UilPoste, who have sought new ways of denouncing the stress suffered by workers in order to place products: on the Spotify platform it is possible to listen to the UilPoste podcast where, in the episode of 8 November, the alarm is raised. "The episode of the UilPoste podcast - reads the union's website - is a clear and circumstantiated indictment against a system that reduces professional value to a mere percentage on a screen".

Under indictment above all is the excessive pressure on Poste's financial advisors. The consultancy rooms have been transformed, it is pointed out, 'into stressful environments, where the obsession with sales targets risks overriding the rights and dignity of workers'. And again: 'The working environment is dominated by results. Luminous screens constantly display charts, tables and percentages, turning every day into a race against time'. Especially 'the segment of young apprentices in Poste Italiane' suffers. "These workers, often under the age of 29 and at their first significant experience, live in a very fragile condition". Without forgetting that the obsession with sales targets, it is specified, is also suffered by customers.

Then there is the 'National Joint Observatory on Commercial Propositions' which is supposed to monitor and prevent commercial pressure dynamics. "But it has only met twice since its establishment. Once in 2019 and now recently on 24 November,' recalls UilPoste Secretary General Claudio Solfaroli Camillocci. At that meeting, the company reiterated that it will activate the necessary checks on the specific critical issues. The body will meet again by the first quarter of 2026.

On the commercial pressure reported by the trade union and the rare meetings of the Observatory, we asked Poste Italiane for its position. "The issue of commercial proposition has been regulated and constantly monitored over the years," explain Poste, "In particular, in 2013 a protocol on the subject was signed between the company and the trade unions, to define the procedures for the exercise of commercial action in respect of the dignity of workers and in line with the company's code of ethics, also with regard to customers. He adds: 'The protocol, moreover, was made an integral part of the current Ccnl, signed in July 2024 and, in this context, the operation of the Joint Observatory on commercial proposition was confirmed. A series of positive actions were defined within the Observatory. Among these is the creation of an impersonal e-mail address through which employees can report any abnormal behaviour with respect to the principles jointly defined between the company and trade unions'.