Origins and history, functions and aims
Spa 1950
It was in the year 1950, at the invitation of the Belgian Postal Administration, that postmen from Austria, Belgium, France, Holland and Luxembourg first met in friendly competition, though the idea had been suggested by an event organised by the Dutch in previous years. A 15km walk in full uniform was used to determine who should hold the title of Europe’s fastest postman.
Stockholm 1954
After the event had been won twice by Belgium (1950/51) and once each by France (1952) and Sweden (1953), Sweden had to organise the walk again in 1954. When Sweden won again that year and so had to be organiser once more in 1955, it became apparent that the arrangement whereby the winning country was made responsible for the following year’s event was not the happiest of ideas. The leader of the Dutch delegation, Jaap van Leeuwen from Amsterdam, and Dr Werner Lossl from Munich, leader of the German delegation, thought it appropriate that the work of organisation, which was proving extremely expensive for the individual administrations (competitors were given free accommodation and free travel from the frontier onwards), should be put on a wider international and sporting basis, particularly as by now the number of countries taking part had grown to 11.
Amsterdam 1955
At the invitation of the Dutch Administration, representatives from 4 Postal Administrations (Austria, Belgium, Italy and Yugoslavia) and 3 national Post Office Sports Associations (France, Germany and Sweden) met on 8th March 1955 to discuss the foundation of a European Post Office Sports Organisation.
Between 9th and 12th March there was a thorough discussion of details, followed by the issue of a statement approved without reservation by the Administrations and Associations concerned. Since then the Union Internationale Sportive des PTT has expanded to include a total of 14 member countries: Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Holland, Sweden and Switzerland.
In this way postmen, the bearers of good tidings as of ill, and symbolising a postal service which links the peoples of the world together, became the germ of an international organisation both postal and sporting.
The third paragraph of the 1955 statement ran as follows:
"The UISPTT has as its aim the development of sporting links between the staff of the various post and telephone administrations."
In an updated version decided on in 1982 this was expanded in Article 2 to read:
"The UISPTT pursues the aims of:
- contributing towards maintaining the good health of personnel;
- making available the experience of individual countries in the sporting field to all member countries;
- furthering the development of sporting relations between the personnel of the various postal and telecommunications administrations;
- representing the interests of Post Office sports in respect of third parties."
A comparison of these two extracts will show better than anything else how the UISPTT has developed since its foundation.
Initially it was the postmen’s walk that held the centre of the stage, but as early as 1956 football was added to the competition, followed at four-year intervals by basketball and chess (1958) and athletics (1962). Since then skiing, tennis and table tennis have been added to the list, with volleyball and basketball on some occasions. Shooting, cycling and cross-country events are currently in preparation.
Using the international rules governing all these events as a basis, the union has produced its own rule book for the events it holds.
However impressive such gatherings might be, bringing together as they did government ministers, senior officials and the "little man" in a closer bond, the UISPTT was not slow to realise that its functions should lie increasingly in the areas of health care and coordination.
A questionnaire sent out in 1983 showed that in all member countries there are legal provisions imposing a duty upon employers to protect the health of their employees.
It is one of the obligations of every employer these days to make provision, as part of his general responsibility towards his personnel, and to provide opportunities for the health of those working for him to be preserved and furthered. Approximately half the member countries of the UISPTT have already made provision for gymnastics at the place of work, the extent of the provision, of course, varying from place to place. Those with sedentary occupations and engaged in repetitive tasks, such as in the postal cheque service and data acquisition, are particularly encouraged to take part, though this is entirely voluntary. The 5 to 10 minutes spent in exercising is usually counted as working time. The exercises are led by skilled instructors, themselves PO employees, mostly to the accompaniment of music. Usually the workplace itself has to be used for the purpose, though in some cases special rooms have been set aside.
Hungary is the country that leads the field in this respect: gymnastics have been organised at the workplace there for ten years now. A class is given on the radio every morning between 10 and 11. The exercises have a fixed theme different for each day of the week and announced in advance, with the whole programme being redesigned every three months.
The use of gymnastics to promote health is also widespread in the Norwegian Post Office. A specialist based at Head Office is available to provide advice and encouragement to regional post offices.
In other countries a major role is played by a system of medical check-ups, both before staff are engaged and during their period of service. Some countries provide holiday accommodation with sports facilities under the supervision of qualified instructors. Others have practice facilities covering almost all disciplines in the sports field for the leisure-time use of their staff. To draw the attention of all members to these possibilities, to assist them in preparing schemes and carrying them through, and to compare and communicate results, these are probably the main task that the UISPTT sets itself at the present time.
To enable it the better to serve its members, the UISPTT will in future hold its Congress, which takes place every three years, on the theme of health care and thus free itself of its image of being solely concerned with sport and sports administration. For the purpose of fulfilling its other functions, it will make use of the annual meeting of the Committee, whilst the 5-member presidium has the task of seeing to the arrangements for the other conferences and handling day-to-day business. By this three-way division of responsibilities it is intended that the UISPTT should be put into an even better position to fulfill what, without neglecting its original role as an organiser of sports competitions, must be its main task: To contribute towards maintaining the health of personnel and to deepen and make good use of the experience of the member countries.
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