Vienna - Austria's post offices were partially closed Wednesday, as postal workers protested plans to downsize the mail service.

Employees at around 80 branches were on strike, but mail delivery went on uninterrupted, Oesterreichische Post AG said in a statement.

The protests came one day before the post's management meets to discuss possible restructuring plans for 2009.

To prepare the company for the end of the state monopoly on mail delivery in 2011, its management has reportedly drawn up plans to reduce the 25,800-strong workforce by 35 per cent by 2015 and to close or sell 77 per cent of post offices.

"Today's measures were just a first step," said Franz Wallmann, head of the postal workers union in the province of Salzburg. "There are plans ranging to a general strike," he told Austrian news agency APA. (dpa)