News

D unedin-based postal workers are at risk of unemployment as New Zealand Post makes cuts to its residential delivery services. Dunedin is currently home to around 60 posties, all of whom could be at risk of unemployment as part of a five-year strategy to restructure New Zealand’s postal service.

Approximately 400 jobs are expected to be lost across the country due to the closure of mail centres in Dunedin, Waikato and Wellington. Because of the closures, mail services in these areas will be cut from three to six days per week. Rural delivery services will not be affected.

The changes will come into effect in July of this year, a New Zealand Post spokesperson has said. Staff are set to consult with the state-owned enterprise between April and June; the number of jobs cut will be confirmed at the end of this period.

The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU), New Zealand’s largest union for postal workers, has spoken out about the plan. Joe Gallagher, EPMU organiser, said in a press release: “[The National] Government has pushed for bigger and bigger dividends, which has driven NZ Post to cut costs any way it can.” Gallagher argued that by making the cuts, New Zealand Post is “sacrificing good service for profit … we’re now in a situation where it could take a week for a letter to get from one side of Dunedin to the other.”

Alix Muir, student and Dunedin resident, said the cuts will be “a total nuisance”. “I live in a flat, as most students do, and most of my bills tend to come through the mail,” said Muir. “I know I can get them electronically, but it’s always a reminder to pay them when I have a physical copy in my hand.”

In 2014, total mail volume fell by around nine per cent; this year’s figures have also shown a record decrease.