From SMH.com.au
KIRSTY NEEDHAM
AUSTRALIA Post has been accused of secretly monitoring Sydney postal workers using computerised street-side red letter boxes in breach of NSW surveillance laws.
But the postal service says it is entitled to spy on its staff because it is not subject to state laws.
The NSW Attorney-General, John Hatzistergos, has intervened in the dispute and will appear personally in the Federal Court today to argue Australia Post is answerable to criminal prosecution under the state workplace surveillance act.
All street-side collection mail boxes in NSW are monitored by computer. Australia Post is able to track when and where each postie or driver accesses the boxes with individual computer keys.
The system was introduced as a measure to stop mail theft.
However six posties in Coogee faced dismissal last year after management used data from the Cyberlock system to allege they had falsified time sheets.
All but one of the posties have been reinstated, but the Communications Electrical Plumbing Union is concerned Australia Post is using Cyberlock for more widespread monitoring of staff.
The union has alleged in the local court that the postal service’s use of the tracking system breaches surveillance laws.
Australia Post has argued in the Federal Court that the Australian Postal Corporation Act makes its use of the Cyberlock system exempt from state law.
The CEPU secretary, Jim Metcher, said the outcome of the case could affect all federal employers if Australia Post successfully argued that state-based surveillance laws did not apply to its workers.
An Australia Post spokeswoman said yesterday that the case related to three people found to be claiming overtime payments they were not entitled to.
”Australia Post is a Commonwealth government business enterprise and as such Commonwealth legislation will prevail over state-based legislation,” she said.
”In our view, the NSW Workplace Surveillance Act 2005 does not apply to Australia Post.”
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