These are the post offices that will close by the end of the year

The hamlets of Creva, Tornavento, Cuasso al Piano, Santa Maria del Monte, near Varese are going to lose their post offices. This is the result of the agreement reached by the trade unions (CGIL- CISL-CISAL) and Poste Italiane, who have decided to close 50 small post offices in Lombardy.

In Varese Province, it is the post offices in the small villages that are mostly affected. However, for many of them, there is an alternative branch not far away, like Creva, a hamlet near Luino, and Tornavento, a hamlet near Lonate Pozzolo, where, in addition to the other post offices open to the public, there is also the important, controversial parcel sorting office.

Continuing our look at Varese Province, Valganna is losing its post office, but nearby, there will still be those of Ghirla and Bedero Valcuvia. The doors are closing in Cuasso al Piano: for pensions and bills, people will have to go to Besano or Porto Ceresio. But it is the people of Santa Maria del Monte, where post office is already closed, for which the alternative is in Via Amendola, Varese, that are particularly hard hit.

Regionally, Mantua and Brescia are the provinces that have been worst affected. In Mantua, 18 post offices will be closing at the end of the year, and in Brescia, 9.

To be honest, last September rumours had it that regionally the total number of closures would be 83.

However, the agreement stipulates a 38% reduction in cuts. In Varese Province, the post offices in Malpensa 2000, Trevisago (Cocquio Trevisago) and Corgeno will be spared, although in Corgeno, the office will only open on alternate days, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

“The agreement reached yesterday also includes a possible increase in the number of shifts in the suburban offices, which will have a higher number of clients thanks to this restructuring,” Antonio Santacroce, the Provincial Secretary of the postal workers union, SLP-CISL Varese, explained.

The regional negotiation did not address the question of postmen and women. “This will be discussed at a national level,” Santacroce concluded. “The negotiation is underway and, as we know, until recently, there was talk of 10,000 redundancies. What is, so to speak, reassuring in this matter is that the company intends to reduce the number of cuts. Nevertheless, the contents of this negotiation are being dealt with nationally.”