World News – UA – Posties attack Australian Post management ahead of Holgate Senate fence

Australia Post boss Christine Holgate will be toasted over a string of scandals within the organization during Senate estimates on Thursday amid growing unrest postal workers on radical changes in the delivery of its services

The postal workers union has attacked its management over temporary changes, introduced during the pandemic, which they say have resulted in increasing delays in parcel delivery, increased speeding on sidewalks and lower morale. low among its workforce

Australia Post CEO and Managing Director Christine Holgate will face the Senate forecast again on ThursdayCredit: Alex Ellinghausen

Ms. Holgate has also been at the heart of several controversies surrounding her leadership within the organization, including over bonus payments, personal expenses and a request for volunteer staff to help clear a backlog in their delivery. own vehicles

The national postal service was relieved of its regulatory obligations in April this year by the federal government during the pandemic, which allowed it to suspend its priority mail service, delivering letters every other day in the metropolitan areas and take up to five days to post regular internal mail

Ahead of the hearing, Victoria Secretary of State for the Communications Workers Union, Leroy Lazaro, said his members had made their views clear that the two-day delivery model had  » aggravated an already difficult situation ”

« The morale of our members has never been lower and stress levels never higher and if the government and the Australia Post had engaged in appropriate consultations with us and our members many of these issues could have be avoided, « said M Lazaro

A survey of nearly 400 postal workers found that nearly 90% of them said they were forced to leave letters and not be delivered for more than one working day

About 67% of posties polled said they had exceeded the 10 km / h limit on the trail to ensure their tour was delivered, about 93% believed the changes had degraded the quality of service

Australia Post has been forced to face increasing delays in many of its services due to COVID-19 lockdown measures, including a reduction in air cargo capacity, a significant increase in parcel volumes, social distancing in mailrooms and departure times of dedicated teams to reduce worker crossover

In Victoria, massive demand and current labor capacity constraints have delayed all deliveries by three days, resulting in some flux on nationwide effects

Its Express Post service experiences significant delays, with some taking up to five or more business days to reach their destination

Some postal workers in metropolitan areas now deliver in vans in an attempt to move packages faster

M Lazaro said about 50% of efficient modes of small parcel delivery have been replaced by less efficient vans, resulting in additional parcel delays

« With the mail also being delayed by several days, the government must restore traditional courier service standards as soon as possible and Australia Post must provide the additional resources needed for delivery, not less, to cope with the new electronic commerce standard « 

Australia Post delivered $ 53.6 million in pre-tax profits over the past year, surpassing its target of $ 15 million, after a 17% increase in parcel deliveries during the pandemic boosted revenue for $ 567 million Letter volume fell 145%, resulting in a shortfall of $ 220 million despite an increase in the price of stamps

An Australia Post spokesperson said the postie survey was a ‘small sample’ of its workforce and the organization delivered more packages this year than ever before

« This included 118 million packages delivered in the last quarter alone, as consumer behavior quickly changed due to COVID, » the spokesperson said

« By moving the packages in vans we were able to deliver an additional 600,000 packages in vans on a monthly basis compared to last year This includes many large packages that simply cannot be delivered by motorbike »

« We are working with [the union’s] national office on a way forward that provides a sustainable future for our company, our employees and our customers, » the spokesperson said

In July, the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union of Australia signed a memorandum of understanding with Australia Post, which supported temporary changes in metropolitan areas

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Rob Harris is National Affairs Editor for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based at the Parliament of Canberra

Australia Post, E-commerce, Christine Holgate