Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

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

A French-speaking alliance against postal 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.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

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.

More

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.

More
A woman in a brown coat walks in the road. Behind her is a large Swiss Post branch, with the ‘+P’ logo in red (+) and yellow (P) above the door and a wall of bright yellow Post lockers

More

Swiss Post profit falls by CHF35 million 

This content was published on Largely due to a drop in letter and parcel volumes, Swiss Post’s group profit fell from CHF295 million ($289 million) in 2022 to CHF254 million last year

Read more: Swiss Post profit falls by CHF35 million 

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

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

Most Read
Swiss Abroad

Most Discussed

News

EU cuts aid to Hungary, Switzerland continues to pay

More

EU cuts aid to Hungary, Switzerland continues to pay

This content was published on Earlier this year, the European Commission withdrew planned EU aid to Hungary because of violations of the rule of law. Switzerland shares the EU's doubts, but continues to pay its cohesion contribution to Hungary.

Read more: EU cuts aid to Hungary, Switzerland continues to pay
Unknown persons try to make money with accumulated ESC tickets

More

Touts target European Song Contest tickets

This content was published on The Eurovision Song Contest shows are in high demand, with the result that profiteers are hoping to make a quick franc by buying up lots of tickets.

Read more: Touts target European Song Contest tickets
Zurich researchers develop climate-friendly dehumidifier

More

Zurich researchers develop climate-friendly dehumidifier

This content was published on Researchers in Zurich have developed an electricity-free dehumidifier. It is a building element that allows walls and ceilings to absorb moisture from the air and store it temporarily.

Read more: Zurich researchers develop climate-friendly dehumidifier
Federal administration affected by hacker attack

More

Swiss federal administration hit by hacker attack

This content was published on Hackers have attacked the Swiss federal administration. Among other things, telephones, email and various federal websites and specialist applications were affected.

Read more: Swiss federal administration hit by hacker attack
More and more Swiss personalities and institutions are leaving X

More

More and more Swiss celebrities and institutions leaving X

This content was published on The short messaging service X has also lost its reputation in Switzerland. More and more personalities and institutions are turning their backs on tech billionaire Elon Musk's platform.

Read more: More and more Swiss celebrities and institutions leaving X

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR