Salary of new bpost CEO raises eyebrows: at least 200,000 euros more than predecessor | Instagram VTM NEWS

The new CEO of bpost, Chris Peeters – the current CEO of grid operator Elia, has not yet started and there is already a fuss about his salary. When his appointment was announced last week, questions already arose as to why someone would pass up a better-paid job at a well-run company for a job at bpost. But according to the newspapers De Standaard and Le Soir, the postal company has found a way to close the pay gap with its previous employer: through a special long-term bonus.

Exactly how much he will earn remains a question mark, but according to the French-language newspaper, guardian minister Petra De Sutter (Green) said in the core cabinet last weekend that Peeters will earn 1.2 million euros. The basic salary would be 585,000 euros, but with all kinds of bonuses this could rise to more than one million euros.

No one, neither at bpost nor in the government, wants to say much about exactly how much they will earn now. According to the Belga press agency, De Sutter refers to bpost itself, and there they talk about a “market-based” wage. Yet Peeters would earn a lot more than his predecessor Dirk Tirez, who had to make do with 968,000 euros. Compared to his current job, he will still have to make concessions. Peeters receives 1.35 million euros from grid operator Elia.

Chris Peeters will switch to bpost on October 30. Since the departure of Dirk Tirez in December, Bpost has been led by interim CEO Philippe Dartienne. Tirez disappeared after possible irregularities in the tender for the newspaper distribution concession came to light. Tirez’s predecessor, Jean-Paul Van Avermaet, had also been discredited. Peeters has been appointed for a period of 6 years to get everything back in order.

N-VA MP Michael Freilich, who monitors the bpost file in the House, calls it “scandalous” that the De Croo government does not provide transparency about the salary of the new bpost CEO. “In public positions and at government companies, it is evident that there is complete transparency about pay and employment conditions,” said the opposition member. “That’s the difference with a private company.”

“But I am not very surprised,” says Freilich, “First of all, bpost is doing what we have come to expect from them for years, namely not offering any transparency. The fact that Minister De Sutter is silent is also no surprise. The Socialists and the Greens have been advocating for years to limit wages at public companies.”

“It was the then PS minister Labille who forced former CEO Johnny Thijs to resign with a hefty pay cut. That is why, compared to private companies, the company was unable to attract top executives for the CEO position and therefore saw billions in profits evaporate on the stock market. Now they are returning to those steps, but they are too cowardly to acknowledge that their own recipes were useless,” concludes the N-VA MP.

Member of Parliament Maria Vindevoghel (PVDA) also wants more transparency and asks that Minister De Sutter provide text and explanation in the House. “The amounts now circulating in the press are far above the wage ceiling at public companies,” says the communist opposition member. “A new boss at bpost apparently means a new bonus. When will the postmen, drivers, sorters and counter clerks at bpost get a pay increase?”