Stand and Deliver

A recent story in Dutchnews reported that TNT Post is to cut its Dutch workforce by between 6,500 and 7,000 by 2010 and bring in a 30-month pay freeze. The job losses could reach 11,000, including compulsory redundancies, if unions don’t agree to a reduction in secondary benefits across the board, TNT Post said. ‘It is a question of the lesser of two evils,’ a spokesman told ANP. ‘Either more jobs go or people accept a pay cut. It is as simple as that.’

What the compassionate company spokesman failed to mention was that, according to research by the Volkskrant, TNT boss Peter Bakker saw his total pay package, including basic salary, bonus and pension contributions, rise 10.6% last year. And as for TNT itself? Net profit from ordinary operations was up 7.5% to €828m.

And as the unions pointed out, the pay freeze would only apply to senior management’s basic pay for one year.

But this probably does not seem like that remarkable a story. Unfortunately these stories abound.

Without getting too philosophical about the merits of communism, capitalism or any other economic and/or social model to organise a society around, it seems obvious to say that there has to be a limit. The case with TNT Post exemplifies greed and demonstrates a lack of humanity and compassion that drives our modern society. There are so many other examples – while executive salaries continue to blow out, and military spending grows, nurses and teachers are paid some of the lesser wages in our society, and we continue to cash in the environment at the expense of the generations to come.

We are all stuck together on this little blue planet – surely we can do a better job of getting our priorities right than our current collective efforts?

Shane