Troy McGuinness
Earlier this year Australia Post, one of the largest employers in Australia, began cutting full-time jobs at its five country mail centres — Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Seymour and Morwell. This has resulted in a large proportion of the mail at all five centres being transported to the Dandenong Letter Centre (DLC) to be sorted by machine.
The concerns of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and the affected mail centres are threefold: the loss of full-time jobs in regional areas already struggling with high rates of unemployment; the decline in service provision to people in rural and regional areas; and the introduction of casual employees on lesser pay and conditions to sort the country mail at the DLC.
What began as a trial at the Gippsland Mail Centre in Morwell has ended in more than 80% of Gippsland's mail being sorted at the DLC. As a result, 20 full-time positions have been lost. The CWU fears that more jobs will be cut in regional centres across Victoria as more mail is transported to Dandenong in Australia Post management's attempt to cut operating costs.
Casual workers employed at the DLC to sort the country mail are employed under lesser conditions than permanent workers at that centre. The casual workers are contracted to work 14 hours a week, broken into three shifts. Two of these shifts are only four hours long, so the workers are not given a tea break or other entitlements such as double-time on Sundays, job rotation and the team skills loading.
Community protests held at the DLC and other regional centres have held up mail in transit from the country centres so that it has to be sorted on Saturdays at the higher rates of pay.
For decades, regional residents have enjoyed the same level of mail service as city residents. They are dismayed by the decline in service now.
Australia Post did not consult with the communities affected before commencing its penny-pinching restructure. The CWU, in conjunction with representatives from country communities, has asked for a meeting with Australia Post to discuss the loss of full-time jobs and service reduction in the regional areas, and the flow-on effects in the whole community.