Any job that is accompanied by the adjective ‘rural’ takes on, by default, double importance. Not to romanticize the fact of living and working away from the hustle and bustle, but because of its essential nature and the backbone of the community in which it works – at the same time, not exempt from difficulties and scarcity of resources compared to its urban counterparts. Rural teacher, rural doctor and, of course, rural postman. Jobs that, like so many others, were carried out in a male key for centuries, although in some cases with greater resistance than in others.
The history of postal mail – at least in our country – is one of those exceptions, with a prominent role – or at least somewhat more visible – of women since in 1648 in Portugalete (Vizcaya) a woman became the first briefcase. Their skill should not have been surprising since for almost a century (until 1738) only women would provide that service. The art of bringing any type of letter to fruition became, with Philip V, a matter of state: Correos was born.
The role of women in the Post Office did not advance faster than that of women’s rights in society, nor their salary. For example, postmen who worked in one-person telephone posts were able to hire, starting in 1880, their wife, daughter or sister, at the level of assistant to help with messaging and communications tasks. That assistant earned 625 pesetas compared to the 1,000 pesetas earned by the lowest position in the Telegraph Corps.
The first assistant in the history of the Post Office was Josefa Álvarez Portela, wife of the officer in charge of the Valladolid station of Nava del Rey (Valladolid). It took almost a century for the first free and equal exams for men and women to arrive in 1979. The definitive door to be able to integrate all your potential within the organization and scale it progressively. It is the story of women like Elvira Fernández, who did not hesitate to travel to Madrid, following in the footsteps of an aunt of hers.
To do this, she approved the second call for competitive examinations open to women on the first try, in 1983. The opportunity to return to her longed-for land arose two years later. Her destiny: A Pobra de Trives (Ourense). “I was in Madrid. She was comfortable and happy, but we Galicians, you know, want to return to our land again,” explains Elvira, who retired a few days ago. She closed the door at work, which literally opened the doors of the entire community of neighbors she called on.
40 years have passed. 38, to be more exact, and Elvira’s story is, in part, the story of Correos. The story, also, of a woman who witnessed the great changes that she has experienced to be today a leading company in parity, already achieved in 2016. And those changes are profound. In those days, she was one of the regular postmen and the body of postmen in her office amounted to eight: “As they retired, the place was closed.” A number that with the passing of the years – and depopulation – dropped without remedy. Today there are only three left.
Elvira has spent four decades in the same office serving the same neighbors, at the same addresses – many of which she knows by heart. But those services have taken a 180-degree turn. Nobody sends letters anymore, nobody writes them, at least not by hand: “The letter is hardly used. Everything is electronic. Now they only send notifications from the Treasury, fines, certified letters and things like that. I remember the mailbox full to the brim at Christmas and that doesn’t exist.”
Elvira continued preparing to go from C2 to C1 and became a director. She replaced her director in 1989. When her boss got married there and her boss retired, she was able to get the position of director of the office where she already worked. Parity is something he has lived with since then. She is convinced that there are more women, especially in the cities. She is right: specifically 53.21% of the staff. In fact, in recent years there has been a greater tendency to promote working women within the company.
An example is that 54.59% of the 5,685 intermediate managers in offices, distribution units and logistics centers are occupied by women. Her case is, however, that of a director of a modest and familiar office. Elvira is proud of her craft and of what has been her home for so many years. “You know a lot of people and people know you. You are someone trustworthy because you pass by his house every day, and in a town much more so,” she values.
It is something that has not changed, although his daily chores have. “Postmen and postmen do everything. They are almost mobile offices. Since there is no postal letter, we do everything. Before there were letters and money orders, now from the PDA you can certify a letter, accept a package or deliver money to your home, collect fines or sell lottery tickets. From the letter, we can say, we no longer live. Today it is more parcel delivery,” Elvira shares with a certain touch of nostalgia.
Reality, however, continues to redefine their work. “There are areas that barely have inhabitants, and with very elderly people who, perhaps, have not spoken to anyone that day. There is no bank office or ATM. The job is to bring those services to the doors of these people,” she highlights. As director of a rural office, she knows that ordinary postmen and women are “a helpful figure, because she is trustworthy, she can carry medicine or run an errand.”
For years, the history of the Post Office was written with the names of anonymous women, among conductors traveling on horseback or on foot, until in 1909 we found the first ‘celeb’. A key figure in the achievement of women’s rights: Clara Campoamor. She is a lawyer, writer, politician and activist for universal women’s suffrage. What many may not know is that on July 15 of that year she obtained her place in the first 2nd category competitions for Post Office assistants. A few years later, in 1922, there was a new turning point. The Strike of Postmasters and Officials provided a perfect breeding ground for them to occupy their positions. And they did it.
Clara Campoamor is one of those names and surnames that history must preserve alive, in motion, and what better way than to do it in the form of a stamp? Campoamor, along with Concepción Arenal, Elidà Amigó, María Blanchard and Luisa Roldán are some women whose lives changed other lives. All of them are part of
