Call for NZ Post probe over ‘snail mail’ snafu
Posties fed up with complaints about slow mail deliveries want New Zealand Post investigated for serious misconduct over mail delays according to their union.
A recent Sunday Star-Times investigation that found standard letters taking more than two weeks to be delivered prompted the Postal Workers Union to call for an inquiry into the state-owned enterprise.
Southern District president, John Maynard, said posties were continually receiving complaints from the public about the slow delivery of letters and parcels.
He was not surprised by the results of the investigation.
‘‘The postal service has degraded steadily since they switched to alternate-day delivery. The union believes this is a process of privatisation by stealth.’’
NZ Post has removed 1500 roadside post boxes nationally and begun to instruct posties in some branches to give priority to the delivery of parcels and to bring back undelivered letters at the end of the days.
‘‘The union is getting reports from posties who are upset that they are bringing letters back to the office which can lead to delays of several days. Any news media reports of mail service failures usually brings pages of overwhelmingly negative comments about NZ Post.’’
However, NZ Post refuted the union’s claims.
‘‘These assertions by the Postal Workers Union could leave your readers with a false impression of New Zealand Post. Parcels are not prioritised over letter mail and we take our performance standards very seriously,’’ a company spokesperson said by email.
‘‘We work very hard to, and in the vast majority of cases do, meet our stated delivery targets.
‘‘However, due to the nature of logistics, from time to time delays can occur – sometimes for reasons outside of our control such as severe weather conditions and transport delays.
‘‘We always regret and apologise for any network delays and when they do happen, our focus is always providing the best possible service for our customers,’’ the spokesperson wrote.
‘‘Our focus is to build a sustainable network and grow parcel volumes. Mail is very important to us, however at the same time, people are sending half a billion fewer letters per year than they did a decade ago.’’
Maynard said the union was writing to the Ministers of Finance and State Owned Enterprises, advising them that it had information to assist in its investigation of a charge of serious misconduct.
NZ Post would be discussing the Postal Workers Union concerns with them at the upcoming bargaining discussions, the NZ Post spokesperson said.