PostNL to appear in court again due to complaint about underpaying deliverers

Parcel delivery company PostNL must appear in court for an appeal about a complaint that it is underpaying independent package deliverers. The complaint was filed by the Interest Association for Parcel Distribution (BVPD).

The trade association claims that the independent package deliverers hired by PostNL keep having to work harder for the same amount of money. The case concerns the package deliverer, Ruud Wassenaar, who is also the current chair of BVPD.

He worked for PostNL for 15 years and saw the number of packages that needed to be delivered rise from 60,000 to 340,000 in that time. However, the rates were so low that he said he could not afford disability insurance or a pension.

The court heard the case in December 2022 and ruled in PostNL's favor. The court felt that it was not proven that Wassenaar made it clear to PostNL during their talks that his business was in trouble due to the low rates. The BVPD appealed the decision.

The branch association feels emboldened by a court case against PostNL in Belgium, in which over 24 million euros in penalties were demanded against the company's Belgian branch for labor abuses.

Lawyer Danny Snijders of the BVPD thinks the situation in Belgium is almost identical to the case in the Netherlands. The judge must answer a straightforward question, Snijders stated.

"Do we really think that a system of exploitation, based on the enormous position of power of PostNL over their subcontractors, belongs in the Netherlands?"