Australia Post's Real Life situation
Australia Post Dispute Set to Escalate in Mt Waverley
POSTIES at the centre of a growing industrial dispute at Australia Post’s Mt Waverley office fear a new mail-sorting system will endanger staff and disrupt deliveries.
The Communication Workers Union and Australia Post are in a stand-off over claims 12 posties at the office have been laid off for refusing to adopt a new delivery method.
The dispute focuses on a new bundling system where posties have to sort mail while are on the road.
CWU organiser Chris Spindler said the system would put posties at risk of injury and delay parcel deliveries.
“The more you’re outside you’re at risk of being involved in an accident,” Mr Spindler said.
“One of the issues is that posties are now going to be more focused on sorting mail than the next driveway or the car coming toward them, which is only going to end badly.”
The union is claiming the postal giant delivered the bad news to the 12 workers recently.
But Australia Post spokesman Jeff Mollet said suggestions workers had been stood down were “simply untrue”.
“A small number of staff refused to undertake separate bundle delivery work as requested,” Mr Mollet said.
“The new procedures that have been put in place to improve mail delivery have been reviewed at the request of the union by the independent body, Comcare, who found that Australia Post had carefully considered all the impacts of separate bundle delivery.
“Since separate bundle delivery was introduced last month, we’ve now successfully rolled it out to over 700 delivery rounds across the country, with the overwhelming majority of posties finding the procedure to be a straightforward way to deliver mail.”
The Leader understands the suspended workers at the office have been clocking on before being told to go home when they refused the new conditions.
Mr Spindler warned the layoffs could be the first of many, with the union expecting other posties to fight the proposed changes.
<extracted from the Waverley Leader Newspaper>