NZ Post seeks to cut 750 roles over next five years amid mail decline
The postal workers union has initiated discussions with NZ Post this week in a bid to reverse the impending cuts that could see the elimination of 750 mail delivery roles over the next five years, according to reports.
Radio New Zealand reported that consultation process was set to begin this Thursday, citing union president John Maynard.
It comes after the NZ Post unveiled last year its plans to slash 750 mail delivery positions within the next five years due to mail decline.
But in addition to the cuts, Maynard said NZ Post has also confirmed that they will be no longer employer posties after the specified deadline.
The union president said the service wants to transition all its delivery workers, including those handling parcels and mail, into contractor roles.
"What the company intends to do is to give all the mail to the contract couriers who are delivering parcels. They're all contractors, the company doesn't want to make them employees. They don't get annual leave. I've spoken to contractors who haven't had a holiday for three years," Maynard said as quoted by RNZ.
NZ Post has a workforce of 4,500, according to its job cut announcement in June 2023.
Maynard expressed disappointment over the announcement, which he said made the job cut move public before consulting with staff and failed to clarify that all workers would be replaced by contractors.
"We're happy to talk to the company about what the future might be but not in a manner in which they make a public announcement, which sort of effectively chops the legs out from under the posties," the union president said as quoted by RNZ.
Amid job cuts across workplaces, employees and unions across New Zealand have been offering various alternatives to employers to prevent them from laying off staff.
NZ Post job cuts
In June 2023, NZ Post said it will launch consultation over job cuts which is its response to mail decline.
"This change will not happen overnight. This will be an adjustment that we will make gradually over the next five years. Our focus will be on our people and supporting them with this transition," said NZ Post chief executive David Walsh in a statement last year.
According to the service, there have only been 200 million mail items in 2023, a drastic drop from the over one billion mail items 20 years ago.
"And we predict that this will decrease to about 120 million items by 2028," Walsh said. "NZ Post now needs to move toward a commercially sustainable model for mail delivery."
NZ Post said that it has already carried out various measures in the past decade to alleviate the high cost of providing a mail service. These measures include:
- Reducing mail delivery in urban areas from six to three times a week
- Consolidating delivery branches
- Consolidating processing sites (including most recently closing the Manawatu Mail Centre) and adding further automation
- Increasing mail prices from $1.70 to $2 from 1 July 2023
In 2016, NZ Post said it will be slashing around 500 positions as it deals with falling mail volumes.
"The way we deliver mail in five years will look very different and we know our future workforce won't be the same size and shape as it is today," Walsh said. "While we evolve, we will need to continue our ongoing operational changes, continue to reduce costs and ensure we are setting the right price for the mail service to be sustainable."
