Promise kept

Mayor and cathedral priest at “Pack’lschupfen”

Postman's honor: Michael Ludwig and Toni Faber were true to their word.

(Bild: Holl Reinhard)

A joke turned into assembly line work: Mayor Michael Ludwig and cathedral priest Toni Faber showed that "Pack'lschupfen" cannot be forgotten: the former vacation job postmen kept their promise to throw themselves into the pre-Christmas flood of parcels at the Liesing logistics center.

The training was completed quickly, as both men were "re-entering" the company: Mayor Michael Ludwig and cathedral priest Toni Faber, both with several years of vacation job experience at Swiss Post during their school and university days, came to help sort parcels at the Liesing logistics center. Nevertheless, they were also instructed with the standard phrase: "If you have any questions, please contact your supervisor".

Joking in summer followed by work in winter
Both had jokingly offered to help out in the summer when the new logistics center was opened - and were now taken at their word by Post CEO Walter Oblin. Up to 250,000 parcels are currently delivered to the Vienna center every day. In order to handle this peak, Austrian Post joins forces every year to form "Team Christkind": All of the Post's administrative staff take part, including Post CEO Walter Oblin and his deputy Peter Umundum.

Assembly line colleagues (from left): Post CEO Walter Oblin, Mayor Michael Ludwig, Cathedral priest Toni Faber and Post Vice President Peter Umundum

(Bild: Holl Reinhard)

"Don't give them the heavy packages"
With the "Team Christkind" campaign, Swiss Post is deliberately making a virtue of the need for parcel masses: Oblin had already spent four hours on the conveyor belt that day and three hours in a branch office the day before. "That's good for you. It reminds you of the necessary respect and humility for this work. And as a board member, you then make different decisions," says Oblin. Ludwig and Faber also had their turn: "Don't give them the heavy packs. We want them to come back," one postal worker whispered to another. But by then it was already too late.

Not overwhelmed even with heavy packages: Mayor Michael Ludwig

(Bild: Holl Reinhard)

Pallet after pallet was sent on its way

(Bild: Holl Reinhard)

Please don't push
The mayor and the cathedral priest showed that they had not forgotten anything: Don't lift from the cross, hold the parcel close to your body, if several parcels are bumped, put the lightest parcel on top and the heaviest on the bottom - and please don't "Pack'lschupfen", warned the head of the logistics center: "We don't push," after all, they didn't want to jeopardize their rank as the postal carrier with the lowest damage rate in Europe.

Around 150 Post employees currently work in two shifts from 9 a.m. to 6 a.m. every day to process the parcels delivered.

(Bild: Holl Reinhard)

Memories of "1036-1103" and the "Postler-Puch"
However, the safety shoes and work gloves took some getting used to for Ludwig and Faber: this had not been the case in their day. To this day, Ludwig still remembers the location code of his former work location for parcel distribution: 1036-1103. "A consummate professional," said one of the postmen appreciatively. Faber, in turn, sentimentally recalled his days delivering telegrams as the "proud driver of a black MS 50", the classic "Postler-Puch" moped.

The "temporary postmen" agreed that employee protection had made enormous progress since their years at Swiss Post. Ludwig recalled loading parcels in the garage while the diesel engines of the trucks were running: "The air wasn't really very good. You could still feel it in your lungs the next day." So is everyone better off today? Both said no: The pressure is much greater today, they said, which deserves "full respect". "In the run-up to Christmas, they really get their turn," they both paid tribute to their assembly line colleagues.