Four-year deal at privatised Italian post office

After lengthy negotiation unions and employers have reached a four-year deal covering 170,000 workers in the Italian post office., the first since privatisation. In line with the unions' overall agreement with the employers and the government, it provides for increases in line with inflation for 2001 with a one-off payment of Euro434 this month to make up for a lack of a settlement during 1999 and 2000. Local deals on additional payments linked to productivity improvements are now possible for the first time. There is also Euro12.90 a month for those who join a supplementary pension scheme and hours banking has been introduced.