Subcontractors this means we are able to withstand

subcontractors). This means we are able to withstand them [hauli-
ers]. However, we were not able to agree on a collective agreement as
good as the old one. (…) The collective agreement constituted a trade-
off, allowing the work [of parcel delivery] to stay within the Austrian
Post. We really fought for this new labour regulation in order not to
have the same bad working conditions as stipulated in the van drivers’
collective agreement. But all in all it is of course not as good as our old
one.’ (Works Council Member, Austrian Post)
The new collective agreement was the result of hard negotiations with
management. At the beginning of the discussions on a new collective
agreement, the aim of the postal union was to conclude an agreement for
the entire sector of parcel delivery. However, employer representatives,
i.e. the Federal Economic Chamber, were strictly opposed to this pro-
posal. Obviously, the social partners were unable to reach agreement on

a response to the converging markets of postal services, haulage, parcel
delivery and logistics that would have established a level playing fi eld
with respect to labour standards.
4.5 Bogus self-employment and contractors’ liability
A major challenge for the re-regulation of the postal and parcel delivery
sector is how to deal with self-employment. One positive example comes
from the Netherlands. Up until 2008, new competitors in the Dutch let-
ter market mainly used self-employed deliverers paid under piece rates
with average hourly wages of 7 Euros or less, i.e. below the national
minimum wage, and without pension and other social security rights or
healthcare coverage. The FNV Bondgenoten trade union started a public
campaign in 2007, publishing information on these working conditions
and attracting considerable media attention. As a consequence, the so-
cial partners – with major intervention from the government – reached a
compromise (set forth in a new government decree and a new collective
agreement) after several rounds of negotiations under which new com-
petitors had until the end of 2013 to convert 80% of existing contracts
with deliverers into regular employee contracts. As a result of these
conversions, deliverers working for new competitors now receive wages
in line with the national minimum rates, i.e. enjoying a major wage in-
crease (Van Klaveren 2013).
In these two examples, unions were strong enough to put pressure on
employers, policymakers and legislators, demanding and enforcing
minimum standards for workers in letter delivery. A number of coun-
tries such as Belgium and Austria have legislation against circumventing
employment contracts via so-called ‘bogus’ self-employment contracts.
In Belgium, for instance, very strict rules and checks are applied when
registering as a self-employed worker with a view to uncovering bogus
self-employment: people working solely for one contractor and therefore
fi nancially dependent on him cannot be labelled as ‘ self-employed ’ but
are employees.