With a mail carrier A large portion of the country’s islands will remain, many of which—aside from their large size— in the summer, due to tourism, have a completely different demographic profile—with many times more residents than in the winter—as well as many more businesses in operation. At the same time The one and only mail carrier should also serve smaller islands that belong to those specific municipal districts, since Naxos, for example, also includes five smaller islands, and no one knows what would happen if the one and only distributor were to fall ill.
The plan for the digital transformation of ELTA, which has been implemented by the Ministry of Digital Governance, as well as the recent ministerial decision, which increases the delivery time for mail is three business days From the day the letter is submitted—whereas until now it was one business day—postal workers will become a thing of the past starting February 1. Moreover, the plans also call for only one weekly mail carrier visit to certain areas with fewer than 7,000 residents, as urban routes are being converted to rural ones.
Starting next month, the new mail delivery program—which is already operating on a pilot basis—will be fully implemented, but its true scope will become clear within a few days when the number of mail carriers It will be reduced by approximately 450, as the contracts of non-permanent staff will not be renewed. The plan to transform ELTA also includes the gradual closure of approximately 220 post offices out of a total of 670 and their replacement by agencies, a solution that had been attempted in the past with mixed results.
And while the universal service—that is, ensuring the provision of postal services to all residents of the country, wherever they may be, without exception or discrimination, on a consistent basis, at an affordable price and a specified quality, seems to be being sustained by a payment of 180 million euros for the years 2013–2020, the universal …service, however, does not appear to be the same.
One after another, the mayors of the Greek islands—from Rhodes to Mykonos and from Zakynthos to Leros—are sending letters of protest to the Minister of Digital Transformation, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, emphasizing that the central government continues to enact legislation based on «mainland» criteria, ignoring the country’s insular nature.
The issue will be discussed on Monday, January 25 Konstantinos Koukas, mayor of Mykonos and member of the KEDE Board of Directors and at the meeting of the Central Committee of Municipalities, which will also be attended by the New Minister of the Interior, Makis Voridis. At the same time, they have submitted the following regarding this issue: questions and statements in Parliament not only from opposition lawmakers, but also from government lawmakers, such as Dionysis Aktypis, the member of parliament from Zakynthos.
However, as the number of distributors declines, there is serious concern over major irregularities in the payment of pensions in remote areas and mainland Greece, as well as in the distribution of public utility bills.
Serious problems in Attica as well
At the same time, the Athens and Attica Prefecture Postal Workers' Union warns that the Problems resulting from the change in the distribution system will be just as severe in the delivery of both mail and small packages in the metropolitan area as the number of mail carrier positions per municipality is being drastically reduced.
And while it is commonly accepted that traditional mail is slowly dying out, having been almost completely replaced by electronic mail, the same cannot be said for the promising small-package sector, which, due to the boom in e-commerce and the pandemic, now accounts for the largest share of deliveries, with at least one hundred per sector per day. «People will now be on the lookout for a mail carrier in their neighborhood, as there have been cuts to »50 to 75% per region,« the union's president, Yiannis Oikonomou, told »ethnos.gr.".
According to the union's data, while τIn December 2019, they served the Athens metropolitan area 1.055 mail carriers; in March 2020, the number of mail carriers fell to 705 as the geographic coverage of the distribution network expands, while under the new system the number of mail carriers is drastically reduced to just 476, leaving entire municipalities in Attica with as few as two delivery people. This is because most of the 450 contract workers who will be leaving ELTA (approximately 270) are employed in the Attica network.
For example, based on the new plan, the new service system provides for the following per municipality:
- Pefki: 2 post offices.
- Greek: 2 mail carriers
- Agia Varvara: 2 mail carriers
- Psychiko (New and Old): 3 postal codes
- Argyroupoli: 3 mail carriers
- Agia Paraskevi: 5 post offices
- Nea Smyrni: 6 mail carriers
- Kallithea: 9 mail carriers out of 27
- Peristeri: 12 mail carriers out of 36
- Ilion, Petroupoli, and Agioi Anargyroi: 13 mail carriers out of 39
- Piraeus: 21 mail carriers out of 43.
«There has already been a backlash from many municipalities as the complete breakdown of the distribution system becomes apparent, given that almost The number of distribution sectors has tripled »and therefore the corresponding delivery times," Mr. Oikonomou emphasizes, warning that the new operational structure will bring huge delays in consumer mail, since, depending on the situation, they may end up seeing the mail carrier once a week, but also on rarer occasions. «All it takes is for one mail carrier to get sick for the mail to be delayed for several days,» he concludes.
The situation on the islands
Mykonos: The mayor of Mykonos, in a letter to KEDE, expresses the need to review the distribution plan and the number of ELTA delivery personnel, especially in island and tourist municipalities, is expressed in a letter to KEDE by the mayor of Mykonos, Konstantinos Koukas. «The new ELTA delivery plan and the number of delivery personnel, which took effect on January 1, 2021, are having a particularly negative impact on mail delivery in island communities,» Mr. Koukas emphasizes to ethnos.gr. He explains that the islands, as small geographical and territorial units cut off from the mainland, lack the advantages that urban centers are able to take advantage of.
At the same time, he strongly emphasizes that in island municipalities—and particularly those focused on tourism, such as, for example, the Municipality of Mykonos—which, according to the latest census in 2011, had 10,134 permanent residents and, clearly, today, given the considerable time that has elapsed, that number has increased significantly; it is therefore appropriate to take into account the strong seasonality during the summer months, with the arrival of visitors and workers bringing the daily population on the island to approximately 180,000. «This must be considered in conjunction with the large number of scattered residences and the enormous volume of private businesses, as well as the fact that many of these islands, such as the Municipality of Naxos and the Small Cyclades, form clusters with their neighbors (Heraklia, Schinoussa, Koufonisia, and Donoussa) that lack ELTA branches.».
Today in Mykonos, with approximately 3,000 mailboxes corresponding to its residents, and given that each mail delivery point (post office box) is, on average, about 8 km apart, it is clear—according to Mr. Koukas —that it is practically impossible for a single mail carrier to serve an entire island, especially considering that Mykonos Town alone, due to its street layout—as is typical on most islands (narrow cobblestone alleys and steps), cannot be served by motorized delivery, and the mail carrier delivers mail door-to-door on a daily basis, walking several kilometers, regardless of the weather.
And this is happening at a time when a large volume of mail—due to the insufficient number of mailboxes available to residents of the islands—is necessarily being delivered to each resident’s home, a process that should now be carried out by one distributor, instead of the three that had been planned until now. «Unfortunately, especially for stores in island areas, this new plan will result in understaffing at the offices and will very quickly lead to operational disruptions and delays in serving the public,» the mayor concluded.
Naxos: The new schedule calls for one ferry to serve Naxos, the largest island in the Cyclades, instead of the three that have been operating there until now at the ELTA branch in Naxos, despite the fact that «the city of Naxos is the capital of the Polynisian Municipality of Naxos and the Small Cyclades, the administrative center of the Regional Unit of Naxos, and the Municipal Unit of Naxos has a population of approximately 15,000 permanent residents,» as noted in his letter to the Minister of Digital Governance, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, the Dimitris Lianos, mayor of Naxos.
At the same time, this is an island that exhibits...strong seasonality due to tourism, given that an average of 600,000 tourist arrivals are recorded during the summer months. In addition, in the city of Naxos, in addition to private individuals, businesses, and the four bank branches, there are a significant number of public services (Tax Office, Social Security Office, OAEE, the Court of First Instance, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Magistrates’ Court, the Municipality, the Urban Planning Office, departments of the South Aegean Region, the Metropolis of Paronaxia, a General High School, two Junior High Schools, four elementary schools, seven kindergartens, two daycare centers, evening programs, a Vocational High School (EPAL), Vocational Training Institutes (DIEK), etc.).
Travel agencies based in Koufonisi and Donoussa Similarly, in the mountainous region of Naxos, the Filotiou store serves the Drymalia Municipal Unit and its settlements, which are located many kilometers apart from one another. «It is impossible for a single mail carrier to handle the volume of mail and other transactions on their own, especially given that the topography and street layout of the city (narrow alleys, stairways) forces the delivery person to deliver the mail on foot,» emphasizes Mr. Lianos, who wonders who will replace the sole mail carrier in the event of regular or sick leave.
Zakynthos: Mail deliveries have been cut in half in Zakynthos as well. Specifically, at the Zakynthos Central Post Office, it is proposed that Handling of deliveries by an urban delivery service that will serve the entire city of Zakynthos, which is the second-most populous city in the Ionian Islands with 9,772 residents.
At the same time, with regard to For rural distribution, only two routes are proposed for the Zakynthos Branch instead of the four that had been planned until recently, at the Machairados branch, one route instead of the two that were in effect, and at the Katastario branch, also one route instead of the two that were planned. And all this on an island that has a population of 160,000 during the summer season, and is also sparsely populated, resulting in long distances that make deliveries more time-consuming.
Samos: On the island that was recently hit by an earthquake and where Citizen services are still provided by mobile post office Since work on the new building—to which the store will be relocated—has not yet been completed, a significant reduction in staff is also expected. According to the new plan, The number of mail carriers is being reduced from 4 to 1 in the city of Samos and from 3 to 1 in Karlovasi, while the mail carrier in Pythagoreio will now also be responsible for Pyrgos.
Rhodes: Sthe city of Rhodes and the surrounding areas, which have a population of about 60,000 Of the 13 distributors employed in 2019, 6 will remain. In addition, in areas with a population of fewer than 7,000 residents, mail will be delivered once a week.
