Human trafficking, counterfeiting and undeclared work. These are some of the serious allegations leveled by the Belgian judiciary against the heads of PostNL, the Dutch postal service, which led to the arrest of the managing director of the Belgian branch, Rudy Van Rillaer. Nos reports it.
Serious allegations for a company that operates in several EU countries and has the Dutch crown on its coat of arms. It all started in November last year, when an investigation published in the Flemish media Hln and Vtm revealed the working conditions under which employees of the subcontractors of PostNL’s Belgian branch work. Journalist Joppe Nuyts has been working undercover as a courier for several weeks, particularly during Black Friday and holiday periods.
Using a hidden camera, Nuyts showed how the company’s subcontractors used couriers who were not only underpaid, but sometimes unlicensed, if not underage. “This is modern slavery,” complained one of the workers filmed by the documentary. The investigation drew attention in Belgium, where the pandemic has revealed a number of critical issues across the delivery sector, starting with subcontracting that also affected BPost, the national postal service.
After the release of the documentary, the Federal Police launched an investigation that led to the closure of one of the PostNL depots in Belgium in Wommelgem: Here the inspectors found that several employees of the subcontractors had worked illegally or for several hours significantly higher than contractually stipulated. For industry connoisseurs, it was like discovering hot water. And public opinion was that the Belgian judiciary acted with kid gloves.
But the journalistic investigation stirred consciences, and according to the Belgian Labor Inspectorate, complaints against PostNL companies about the use of unlicensed drivers and underage workers continued in the months that followed. Earlier this week, Belgian police raided three of the Dutch company’s warehouses again and arrested nine people, three of whom are still detained. Among them the CEO of the Belgian branch. What the police found out this time is not yet clear, but the allegations weigh heavily: not just labor law violations, but also counterfeiting and human trafficking.
PostNL reacted sharply and spoke of “aggressive measures” by the Belgian judicial system that were “extremely intimidating”. PostNL claims that it cooperated with the investigation and that no significant or structural abuses in the way of working were found. According to PostNL, the allegations were never officially published: “It makes it difficult for us to fight back,” a spokesman told Nos.
But apparently the Dutch Post investigation is just the tip of the iceberg. The investigation, which the Mechelen prosecutor responsible for the investigation is working on, would also affect other big names in the industry such as DPD. Belgian Minister Petra De Sutter has already announced a new law aimed at bringing order to the forest of subcontracting in the postal sector.
In the Netherlands, too, the situation of subcontractors, who account for 70 percent of all PostNL deliveries, has been discussed for years. In 2020, the Dutch Labor Inspectorate found that nine out of ten subcontractors had irregularities in their accounts. And in 2021, PostNL was fined around €300,000 for dozens of couriers working illegally on behalf of third parties.