People running Licensed Post Offices (LPOs) have accused Australia Post of bullying them into accepting “sweatshop” conditions.
In a survey of more than 50 licensees across every state and territory in regional, rural and city areas by the ABC News, LPOs say Australia Post is intimidating and undercutting them.
Three-quarters of licensees who were willing to go on the record say they are severely underpaid to process parcels
Online shopping has caused a major spike in the parcels business but many licensees say they are hamstrung by agreements that were drawn up more than a decade ago and based on the volumes of parcels processed at that time. Most have found it virtually impossible to renegotiate, despite dealing with up to 20 times more parcels a day in some cases.
“You get a monthly allowance for it but if you look at your pay, for the time it consumes, it is ridiculously low,” one licensee said. “You would be getting the wages of somebody in a sweatshop.”
Further, parcel deliveries often occur within business hours when most people are not home, meaning parcels must be stored at the post office.
In the most extreme cases, licensees allege Australia Post has bullied and intimidated them for challenging what they believe are grossly unfair conditions.
Many of the issues faced by CEPU members working in LPOs are the same for CEPU members in corporate shops, for example offices with limited storage space, ability to only handle parcels up to 16kgs and security of parcels i.e. not kept in public area. The Union has met with POAAL (the organisation that represents LPO Licensees) to discuss concerns about the increase in the number and type of parcels being delivered to LPOs and corporate offices.
In the last 4-5 years parcels have grown 20% p.a. in the Australia Post network. In the next 2-3 years parcels are expected to grow 40-70%. It is important that Post addresses the issues of parcels storage and handling to ensure that growth opportunities are not squandered by these issues.
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