Courier firm treats drivers like ‘animals’
Deliveries have become the lifeblood of Kiwi commerce, but angry drivers tell Daniel Smith a strike is not out of the question.
ARAMEX drivers have been watching protest action taken by their counterparts in Australia in recent weeks, and say something needs to be done about the courier company’s culture on this side of the Tasman, too.
More than 100 Aramex drivers went on a 24-hour strike in
Sydney last week in protest at low pay rates and working conditions the drivers’ union described as ‘‘modern slavery’’.
Transport Workers Union president Tony Matthews told Australia’s Channel 7 that Aramex couriers worked more than 50 hours a week and took home ‘‘just a few hundred dollars after costs’’.
Peter Gallagher, chief executive of Pro Drive, a group that represents New Zealand drivers, says the situation here was as bad if not worse than Sydney, and he was closely observing the situation.
‘‘We are certainly not ruling out collective action. A strike in New Zealand is definitely on the cards,’’ Gallagher says.
Pro Drive has made multiple attempts to talk with Aramex NZ over issues of working conditions and fair pay, but the company had yet to respond, he says.
The impact of the Aramex NZ business model on worker mental health is severe, he says.
Former Aramex driver Brian Cossey says the financial strain and bullying work culture at Aramex led him to consider suicide.
‘‘I had been working 16-hour days, seven days a week for a laughable amount of take-home pay,’’ Cossey says.
‘‘The stress and overwork was leading to me having near-misses on the road, and collapsing in the depot.
‘‘I begged management for help, but they did nothing.’’
Aramex NZ chief executive Scott Jenyns says he is unaware of any drivers reporting suicidal thoughts and such an incident would be treated seriously.
He says the company intends to investigate the matter immediately, and calls on courier franchisees to contact him directly if they wish to raise any concerns.
Aramex also has a whistleblower code of conduct which allows employees to raise issues anonymously, he says.
Aramex franchisees are classed as contractors, meaning each driver is an individual business owner, rather than an employee who would have minimum wage protections.
Aramex markets the courier run as having ‘‘uncapped earning potential’’. Drivers cover their own operating costs, and are paid per package delivery at a rate set by Aramex.
Cossey says his after-cost takehome pay was between $12.68 and $11.72 an hour.
Jenyns says it is not accurate to speak in terms of wages because drivers are owneroperators, not employees.
But Gallagher says to get caught up in the semantics of payment is disingenuous.
‘‘We have done the research using Aramex’s own numbers and found that drivers are earning significantly less than the minimum wage after costs. I have spoken to over 40 drivers across the North Island and I am yet to find a single one earning above the minimum wage,’’ he says.
Drivers buy their franchisee businesses from Aramex for between $15,000 and $30,000, and handing back a round often comes with significant financial loss, he says.
Cossey now works in construction.
‘‘I am making 50 per cent more money and I don’t wake up every
morning wanting to kill myself.’’
A current Aramex courier driver in Wellington says the culture of bullying and overwork has worsened.
Upper management used intimidation when drivers questioned the financial arrangement of the business, she says.
‘‘I don’t think Aramex actually knows how much toll this takes on us. I have reached a point where I have just had enough. I get up each morning and I don’t want to wake up.’’
It was a regular occurrence at the Wellington depot to see drivers crying when they see their payslips, she says.
‘‘The way they treat us is just ridiculous. There is no toilet paper at the depot, no clean facilities for us to use when we get back at the end of our run. They treat us worse than animals.’’
Jenyns says that Aramex has an employee assistance programme in place for any driver in mental distress or their family to access counselling.
But Gallagher says this was an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.
‘‘The testimony we have seen from drivers across the North Island tells us that Aramex has a model that works people to the point of exhaustion,’’ he says.
‘‘The ultimate indignity is when these drivers collapse, Aramex is able to swoop in, recapture the business and resell it.’’
He hopes the strike in Sydney will highlight the issues facing Aramex courier drivers in New Zealand, and put public and regulatory pressure on the company.
❚ Jenyns resigned on Friday after 21 years with the company, a spokeswoman says. A departure date is yet to be announced.