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UPDATE 1-TNT open for new talks with postal unions

Thu Jul 2, 2009 7:59am EDT

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* Employee survey shows willingness to consider pay cuts

* Extent of forced redundancies would depend on new talks

AMSTERDAM, July 2 (Reuters) - Under-pressure Dutch logistics firm TNT (TNT.AS) said on Thursday it was open to discussing a new labour accord at its mail division after a survey showed staff would be willing to consider pay and benefit cuts.

In April, postal union members rejected a draft accord that included wage cuts, prompting the Dutch company to raise the prospect of thousands of forced redundancies.

But Europe's second largest mail and express delivery company said the survey showed employees would work under less favourable conditions in exchange for temporary job guarantees.

TNT was therefore open to restarting negotiations with unions, board member Harry Koorstra told Dutch news agency ANP in an interview.

Shares in TNT were up 3 percent at 14.63 euros by 1115 GMT, while the DJ Stoxx industrial goods and services index .SXNP was down 1.15 percent.

TNT is aiming for cost savings of 395 million euros ($557 million) annually until the end of 2015, partly through the loss of up to 11,000 jobs as well as pay and benefit cuts, to compensate for a decline in mail volumes, a spokesman said.

However, the number of forced redundancies would depend on the outcome of any new talks with unions, the spokesman said. Some 23,000 staff work at TNT's mail unit. ($1=.7087 Euro)

(Reporting by Catherine Hornby; editing by John Stonestreet)



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