Swiss French-speaking regions join forces to fight post office closures

Of the 170 post offices to be closed across the country, over 70 are in French-speaking Switzerland. Keystone-SDA

Over 40 municipalities in French-speaking Switzerland have joined forces to fight closures of local post offices. They have urged parliamentarians to clarify Swiss Post's universal service mandate and scope of activity prior to any future restructuring.

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Some 45 municipalities in French-speaking Switzerland have joined forces to oppose Swiss Post’s decision to close 170 post offices, they announced in a press release on Tuesday. They include the towns of Geneva, Lausanne, Fribourg, Sion, Delémont and Biel/Bienne.

“Post offices are one of the essential pillars of a vibrant community,” they said. However, Swiss Post is “moving further and further away from the mission that citizens expect of it”, namely proximity to users, extensive services and easy access, they added.

The 45 municipalities are calling for Swiss Post’s missions to be redefined in line with citizens’ expectations. They have written to the members of the Senate in French-speaking Switzerland to clarify Swiss Post’s universal service mandate and field of activity prior to any further restructuring or dismantling of the post office network.

Unavoidable, says Swiss Post

Swiss Post wants to maintain 2,000 sites across the country, including 600 own operation offices, compared with 770 at present, and 1,400 subsidiaries in partnerships. Of the 170 post offices to be closed across the country, over 70 are in French-speaking Switzerland.

There are 19 in canton Vaud, 14 in canton Valais, 11 in canton Neuchâtel, 9 in canton Fribourg, 8 in canton Jura, 5 in canton Geneva and 7 in the Bernese Jura region and the city of Biel. The most-affected cantons are Bern (25) and Ticino (20).

Swiss Post believes that this downsizing process is inevitable. One of the reasons is the steady decline in customer visits to the branches and the reduction in counter transactions.

Adapted from German by DeepL/sb

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