Nazi Post Closes the Peoples Post Offices
This is an interesting read - about the corporate moron - shit head mentality that goes on with the clueless and stupid - probably from the dim witted stars of the Australia Post Graduate Program.
http://www.newsmaker.com.au/news/27460/australia-post-which-side-will-privatise-it-first
Thursday, September 5th, 2013 - Country Alliance
Australia Post remains at risk of privatisation regardless of who wins Saturday’s federal election.
Country Alliance party spokesman, Russell Bate, said it was concerning that neither Labor nor the Coalition will commit to ensuring this vital service stays in public hands and called on both parties to rule out privatisation.
“Australia Post has clearly been in the process of restructuring in preparation for a public offering of all or at least significant parts of its operations. If we take the impact of the privatisation of Telstra on regional Australia as an example it is clear that this would be a disaster for country Australia".
"While services to smaller rural communities may not always be profitable they are essential and the closure or loss of country post offices would have a huge impact on the communities.”
Mr Bate said his party has already called for reform of Australia Posts services to improve, not reduce, services to regional areas.
“If our candidates are elected, they will fight to ensure Australia Post stays in public hands and accessible to local communities. They will fight to ensure the local post offices are retained and are given the right incentives to offer a wider range of services to ensure their ongoing viability”.
And on the Facebook Page..... MORE happy customers...
Kathleen Carol Whelan posted to Australia Post
13 hours ago
I live in a small town in South Gippsland (Toora) with a wonderful Post Office that has had great licensees for the past 15 years. No problems, great service always.
Now we have been told that Australia Post has not renewed their local mail delivery contract for town deliveries and has engaged a Melbourne-based contractor to do the deliveries, taking three local people's jobs, including the postmaster's! Why? This is not fair!
Local people know the residents in town and can often pick up problems - with elderly residents, in particular - when they see the mail box has not been accessed. Some elderly folks have been found at home, in distress from falls, or ill. An outside contractor will not know who lives where, and will only provide a basic service. This is not good enough in a small town.
We may be in danger of losing our Post Office altogether now that the licensees can no longer undertake the local town deliveries. Not happy, Australia Post.
Foster's Little Bookshop posted to Australia Post
2 hours ago
Our little post office at Toora (Vic) has had it’s contract with Australia Post for town mail delivery awarded to another contractor who is Melbourne based. And they were given 3 business days notice.
The couple have run the Toora Post Office for 15 years and they also employ three local people, who will now be out of a job.
The mail contract is what has been propping up the income of the post office enabling them to keep the post office viable. Licensees of post offices DO NOT receive a wage or salary from Australia Post.
They are small business owners the same as any of the other traders in the town. Their income is derived from commissions earned by processing bill payments and banking transactions on behalf of Australia Post, as well as a small discount on postage products they purchase from Australia Post and on-sell.
They spend hours a day storing, sorting and scanning parcels, up to 50 or more per day, not taking into account the change in volume at peak times, like Christmas and most of this is done unpaid.
Without the mail delivery contract to keep the business viable there is every chance they will no longer be able to keep the Post Office operating. Many households in this area rely on the post office for post boxes, most of us don’t have a letterbox at the end of our driveway as people do in the suburbs and we depend on our mail being handled and looked after by the post office staff to be placed in the box that we pay for annually.
How can Australia Post award contracts (particularly after such a long time) without consultation with the individuals involved? I’m hoping you can give me a name, or names, to write to on behalf of this business.
Jan Bull
Foster's Little Bookshop
4 Station Road
Foster 3962
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have not looked into this at a great depth.
But the typically underhanded way that the management of Australia Post pulls their shifty covert machinations - served up as a fait acompli, is not acceptable.
WE the community decide who works for us, when, where and under what conditions.
Not the management of Australia Post.
The Customer Service Obligations - time for negotiations.
Everyone in town, ring the managements numbers, and fax them and email them; until they personally agree to attend the meeting that you have invited them to attend.
And you tell them, "This is what we want, and this is what you will do and how you will do it - because we the people of this town and district say so."
Here you go:
Contact them:
http://www.newsmaker.com.au/news/27460/australia-post-which-side-will-privatise-it-first
Thursday, September 5th, 2013 - Country Alliance
Australia Post remains at risk of privatisation regardless of who wins Saturday’s federal election.
Country Alliance party spokesman, Russell Bate, said it was concerning that neither Labor nor the Coalition will commit to ensuring this vital service stays in public hands and called on both parties to rule out privatisation.
“Australia Post has clearly been in the process of restructuring in preparation for a public offering of all or at least significant parts of its operations. If we take the impact of the privatisation of Telstra on regional Australia as an example it is clear that this would be a disaster for country Australia".
"While services to smaller rural communities may not always be profitable they are essential and the closure or loss of country post offices would have a huge impact on the communities.”
Mr Bate said his party has already called for reform of Australia Posts services to improve, not reduce, services to regional areas.
“If our candidates are elected, they will fight to ensure Australia Post stays in public hands and accessible to local communities. They will fight to ensure the local post offices are retained and are given the right incentives to offer a wider range of services to ensure their ongoing viability”.
And on the Facebook Page..... MORE happy customers...
Kathleen Carol Whelan posted to Australia Post
13 hours ago
I live in a small town in South Gippsland (Toora) with a wonderful Post Office that has had great licensees for the past 15 years. No problems, great service always.
Now we have been told that Australia Post has not renewed their local mail delivery contract for town deliveries and has engaged a Melbourne-based contractor to do the deliveries, taking three local people's jobs, including the postmaster's! Why? This is not fair!
Local people know the residents in town and can often pick up problems - with elderly residents, in particular - when they see the mail box has not been accessed. Some elderly folks have been found at home, in distress from falls, or ill. An outside contractor will not know who lives where, and will only provide a basic service. This is not good enough in a small town.
We may be in danger of losing our Post Office altogether now that the licensees can no longer undertake the local town deliveries. Not happy, Australia Post.
Foster's Little Bookshop posted to Australia Post
2 hours ago
Our little post office at Toora (Vic) has had it’s contract with Australia Post for town mail delivery awarded to another contractor who is Melbourne based. And they were given 3 business days notice.
The couple have run the Toora Post Office for 15 years and they also employ three local people, who will now be out of a job.
The mail contract is what has been propping up the income of the post office enabling them to keep the post office viable. Licensees of post offices DO NOT receive a wage or salary from Australia Post.
They are small business owners the same as any of the other traders in the town. Their income is derived from commissions earned by processing bill payments and banking transactions on behalf of Australia Post, as well as a small discount on postage products they purchase from Australia Post and on-sell.
They spend hours a day storing, sorting and scanning parcels, up to 50 or more per day, not taking into account the change in volume at peak times, like Christmas and most of this is done unpaid.
Without the mail delivery contract to keep the business viable there is every chance they will no longer be able to keep the Post Office operating. Many households in this area rely on the post office for post boxes, most of us don’t have a letterbox at the end of our driveway as people do in the suburbs and we depend on our mail being handled and looked after by the post office staff to be placed in the box that we pay for annually.
How can Australia Post award contracts (particularly after such a long time) without consultation with the individuals involved? I’m hoping you can give me a name, or names, to write to on behalf of this business.
Jan Bull
Foster's Little Bookshop
4 Station Road
Foster 3962
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have not looked into this at a great depth.
But the typically underhanded way that the management of Australia Post pulls their shifty covert machinations - served up as a fait acompli, is not acceptable.
WE the community decide who works for us, when, where and under what conditions.
Not the management of Australia Post.
The Customer Service Obligations - time for negotiations.
Everyone in town, ring the managements numbers, and fax them and email them; until they personally agree to attend the meeting that you have invited them to attend.
And you tell them, "This is what we want, and this is what you will do and how you will do it - because we the people of this town and district say so."
Here you go:
Contact them:
CEO
Mr Ahmed Fahour
Location Australia Post, 111 Bourke St, Melbourne Vic 3000
Postal Address GPO Box 1777, Melbourne Vic 3001
Telephone (03) 9204 7171
Fax (03) 9206 4152
ahmed.fahour@auspost.com.au
Chief Operating Officer
Mr Ewen Stafford
Location Australia Post, 111 Bourke St, Melbourne Vic 3000
Postal Address GPO Box 1777, Melbourne Vic 3001
Telephone (03) 9106 8966
Fax (03) 9206 4119
ewan.stafford@auspost.com.au
Executive General Manager, Parcels & Express Services
Mr Richard Umbers
Location Australia Post, 111 Bourke Street, Melbourne Vic 3000
Postal Address GPO Box 1777, MELBOURNE VIC 3001
Telephone (03) 9106 9724
Fax (03) 9206 4119
christine.corbett@auspost.com.au
Executive General Manager, Post Operations Network
Mr Steve Ousley
Location Australia Post, 111 Bourke St, Melbourne Vic 3000
Postal Address GPO Box 1777, MELBOURNE VIC 3001
Telephone (03) 9106 9581
Fax (03) 9206 4119
steve.ousley@auspost.com.au
Executive General Manager, Corporate Affairs & People
Mr Chris Blake
Location Australia Post, 111 Bourke Street, Melbourne Vic 3000
Postal Address GPO Box 1777, Melbourne Vic 3001
Telephone (03) 9106 7411
Fax (03) 9206 4119
General Manager, External Affairs
Ms Jane Mcmillan
Australia Post, 111 Bourke St, Melbourne Vic 3000
Postal Address GPO Box 1777, Melbourne Vic 3001
Telephone (03) 9107 0218
Fax (03) 9206 4139
jane.mcmillan@auspost.com.au
The other options are collectively decide as a community to tell the managers of Australia Post - who ARE your employees, to either do what you tell them to do, or to tell them, "Your not putting these people out of business, your not fucking with our postal services in this area. You and your lackeys are fired - Fahour - because we say so".
Toll has entered the postal services market - you can as a community and individually - hire them instead.
https://www.tollpriority.com.au/portal/page/portal/TOLL_PRIORITY/Home
Call them, get consultant to attend a town meeting and if they are good enough, hire them.
Network using social media - set up a user page..
Contact the ABC national radio.
They have a brief on Australia Post and the managements shitty practices.
The full stories are good reads.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-05-20/bullying-claims-hit-australia-post/2721742
The ABC News Online Investigative Unit surveyed more than 50 licensees across every state and territory in regional, rural and city areas to gain an insight into the prevalence of these claims.
The key findings include:
Rural and regional post offices are also yet to experience the full impact of high-speed internet.
The $170.8 million profit generated by the parcels business last financial year almost single-handedly kept Australia Post in the black, yet some licensees say they process them at a loss.
One current licensee, who did not wish to be named, attempted to renegotiate payments for parcels with Australia Post and failed.
He says he was bullied for refusing to accept more than the minimum requirement of parcels set out in his contract.
"Pressure is put on licensees on a range of issues by Australia Post,'' he said.
"The threat of losing your licence is a real one to a licensee.
"You invest a lot of money to acquire these licences, it's your source of income and it's quite often bandied around to force you to do things for little or no payment - that 'you might lose your licence' that you own.
"We hear from other licensees [the same thing], that 'if you don't accept parcels, you'll lose your licence'. But we stood our ground. We didn't give in to threats and bullying."
Licensee Advisory Council member and licensee Angela Cramp has been outspoken on a range of issues, including parcels, and says she too has experienced severe backlash for raising questions, including verbal bullying.
"I have experienced the bullying and intimidation because I raised my head,'' Mrs Cramp said.
"I took a very strong stance, a public stance and I believe that's why I was intimidated, harassed, threatened."
Parcels were also a problem for former licensee Ronny Elzahr, although he had a slightly different case.
Mr Elzahr says that when he went to sell his store, Australia Post tried to force him to alter his contract so that only official products could be stocked.
He objected as it reduced his business's value and says middle management's response was heavy-handed.
"I definitely feel bullied - bullied is an understatement," Mr Elzahr said.
"And you have your family's livelihood at stake ... a lot of licensees will just fold under that sort of pressure."
The ABC is aware of other Australia Post licensees who say they have been bullied in the past year but they declined to speak publicly about their experiences.
Australia Post is aware of cases of bullying but general manager of external affairs Alex Twomey says it is not a systemic problem.
"Are there individuals who have done the wrong thing over time? I'm certain there has been and we've taken some action on a few in the past but it's actually not widespread,'' Mr Twomey said.
"We have very low numbers, incredibly low numbers of complaints around bullying. I would say [if there are] any bullying cases, we would want to hear about it and we would take serious action if there was found to be any truth in them."
In many cases individual licensee agreements, including the set amounts received for parcels, were drawn up more than a decade ago and based on the volumes of parcels processed at that time.
"The payment I get for parcels is an issue for us," one Tasmanian licensee said.
"You get a monthly allowance for it but if you look at your pay, for the time it consumes, it is ridiculously low.
"You would be getting the wages of somebody in a sweatshop."
Online shopping has caused a major spike in the parcels business but many licensees say they are hamstrung by dated agreements.
Most have found it virtually impossible to renegotiate, despite dealing with up to 20 times more parcels a day in some cases.
Further, parcel deliveries often occur within business hours when most people are not home, meaning parcels must be stored at the post office.
Many licensees told the ABC they were not only being underpaid to process parcels but the items were consuming valuable floor space, limiting the stock that could be offered and in some cases forcing owners to rent extra space.
Australia Post concedes that parcels are an issue and it is considering a variety of solutions. However, Mr Twomey does not believe that licensees are being underpaid.
"I think the amount they are getting is fair,'' he said.
"It's a competitive market so we have to keep the price of parcels relative to the rest of the industry - competitive.
"Parcels though are a massive issue and it's not going to be an easy fix. It's something that we're looking at very closely.
"We hear licensees. We're not ignoring them. We agree that the parcels arrangement in terms of our delivery to customers is something we'll have to continually review."
"Everything runs through the Australia Post system," one licensee from Western Australia said.
"They've got the ability to get on there at any time, punch a few keys and see exactly what we are selling and who we're selling it to.
"And then, just coincidently, the customers that we sell stuff to might get a letter from Australia Post saying, "here, look - deal with us direct and we'll cut out the middle man".
The ABC's survey suggests poaching and undercutting is most common when outlets are clustered in metropolitan areas. No rural licensees who responded to the ABC's survey said they were affected by poaching.
But Mr Twomey says Australia Post would get no benefit from harming its licensees.
"The key point for me is that there is no benefit in us having a licensee losing money and us capturing the money down the road," he said.
"It does actually hurt our network if the licensees aren't strong. They're the majority (two-thirds) of our network. The corporate are a much smaller percentage of our total retail footprint.
"There's probably a lot of mistrust that's been built up over a few years. But for the first time in a long time, we feel we're starting to turn that relationship around.
"There are some complicated issues, no doubt.
"But if the licensee network becomes no longer profitable or becomes problematic, then Australia Post faces real trouble."
The ABC News Online Investigative Unit last week reported claims by corner-shop post offices that they are being bullied and forced to work at "sweatshop" rates in the booming parcels business that yielded $170.8m in profits for Australia Post last financial year.
Since that report, more than 60 Australia Post contractors have contacted the ABC to say they had been bullied by Australia Post, felt powerless or they were being treated unfairly.
Many were Australia Post mail couriers - both Messenger Post drivers (who take care of deliveries and much of the day-to-day logistics within Australia Post's letters division) and postal motorbike riders (who deliver many of Australia's letters door-to-door).
"I am losing money but [my manager] used legal terms of the contract to threaten me ... They're a big company but they're using these threats to push us about," one courier from New South Wales said.
The other options are collectively decide as a community to tell the managers of Australia Post - who ARE your employees, to either do what you tell them to do, or to tell them, "Your not putting these people out of business, your not fucking with our postal services in this area. You and your lackeys are fired - Fahour - because we say so".
Toll has entered the postal services market - you can as a community and individually - hire them instead.
https://www.tollpriority.com.au/portal/page/portal/TOLL_PRIORITY/Home
Call them, get consultant to attend a town meeting and if they are good enough, hire them.
Network using social media - set up a user page..
Contact the ABC national radio.
They have a brief on Australia Post and the managements shitty practices.
The full stories are good reads.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-05-20/bullying-claims-hit-australia-post/2721742
Bullying claims hit Australia Post
More broadly, the licensed post offices that are the backbone of many communities across the country say under-remuneration, undercutting and customer poaching by Australia Post's corporate arm is squeezing them dry.The ABC News Online Investigative Unit surveyed more than 50 licensees across every state and territory in regional, rural and city areas to gain an insight into the prevalence of these claims.
The key findings include:
- Three-quarters of licensees who were willing to go on the record say they are severely underpaid to process parcels
- Seventy-five per cent also report being undercut by Australia Post corporate
- Half allege they had customers poached by Australia Post corporate
- A number of licensees expressed concerns but declined to participate for fear of reprisal
Rural and regional post offices are also yet to experience the full impact of high-speed internet.
Bullying and intimidation
In the most extreme cases, licensees allege Australia Post has bullied and intimidated them for challenging what they believe are grossly unfair conditions.The $170.8 million profit generated by the parcels business last financial year almost single-handedly kept Australia Post in the black, yet some licensees say they process them at a loss.
One current licensee, who did not wish to be named, attempted to renegotiate payments for parcels with Australia Post and failed.
He says he was bullied for refusing to accept more than the minimum requirement of parcels set out in his contract.
"Pressure is put on licensees on a range of issues by Australia Post,'' he said.
"The threat of losing your licence is a real one to a licensee.
"You invest a lot of money to acquire these licences, it's your source of income and it's quite often bandied around to force you to do things for little or no payment - that 'you might lose your licence' that you own.
"We hear from other licensees [the same thing], that 'if you don't accept parcels, you'll lose your licence'. But we stood our ground. We didn't give in to threats and bullying."
Licensee Advisory Council member and licensee Angela Cramp has been outspoken on a range of issues, including parcels, and says she too has experienced severe backlash for raising questions, including verbal bullying.
"I have experienced the bullying and intimidation because I raised my head,'' Mrs Cramp said.
"I took a very strong stance, a public stance and I believe that's why I was intimidated, harassed, threatened."
Parcels were also a problem for former licensee Ronny Elzahr, although he had a slightly different case.
Mr Elzahr says that when he went to sell his store, Australia Post tried to force him to alter his contract so that only official products could be stocked.
He objected as it reduced his business's value and says middle management's response was heavy-handed.
"I definitely feel bullied - bullied is an understatement," Mr Elzahr said.
"And you have your family's livelihood at stake ... a lot of licensees will just fold under that sort of pressure."
The ABC is aware of other Australia Post licensees who say they have been bullied in the past year but they declined to speak publicly about their experiences.
Australia Post is aware of cases of bullying but general manager of external affairs Alex Twomey says it is not a systemic problem.
"Are there individuals who have done the wrong thing over time? I'm certain there has been and we've taken some action on a few in the past but it's actually not widespread,'' Mr Twomey said.
"We have very low numbers, incredibly low numbers of complaints around bullying. I would say [if there are] any bullying cases, we would want to hear about it and we would take serious action if there was found to be any truth in them."
Sweatshop wages
More than 80 per cent of metropolitan licensees who responded to the ABC's survey reported being severely underpaid to process parcels.In many cases individual licensee agreements, including the set amounts received for parcels, were drawn up more than a decade ago and based on the volumes of parcels processed at that time.
"The payment I get for parcels is an issue for us," one Tasmanian licensee said.
"You get a monthly allowance for it but if you look at your pay, for the time it consumes, it is ridiculously low.
"You would be getting the wages of somebody in a sweatshop."
Online shopping has caused a major spike in the parcels business but many licensees say they are hamstrung by dated agreements.
Most have found it virtually impossible to renegotiate, despite dealing with up to 20 times more parcels a day in some cases.
Further, parcel deliveries often occur within business hours when most people are not home, meaning parcels must be stored at the post office.
Many licensees told the ABC they were not only being underpaid to process parcels but the items were consuming valuable floor space, limiting the stock that could be offered and in some cases forcing owners to rent extra space.
Australia Post concedes that parcels are an issue and it is considering a variety of solutions. However, Mr Twomey does not believe that licensees are being underpaid.
"I think the amount they are getting is fair,'' he said.
"It's a competitive market so we have to keep the price of parcels relative to the rest of the industry - competitive.
"Parcels though are a massive issue and it's not going to be an easy fix. It's something that we're looking at very closely.
"We hear licensees. We're not ignoring them. We agree that the parcels arrangement in terms of our delivery to customers is something we'll have to continually review."
Poaching and undercutting
Many licensees claim it is common practice for Australia Post's corporate arm to undercut them on price and in some cases to tactically and methodically poach big-spending clients."Everything runs through the Australia Post system," one licensee from Western Australia said.
"They've got the ability to get on there at any time, punch a few keys and see exactly what we are selling and who we're selling it to.
"And then, just coincidently, the customers that we sell stuff to might get a letter from Australia Post saying, "here, look - deal with us direct and we'll cut out the middle man".
The ABC's survey suggests poaching and undercutting is most common when outlets are clustered in metropolitan areas. No rural licensees who responded to the ABC's survey said they were affected by poaching.
But Mr Twomey says Australia Post would get no benefit from harming its licensees.
"The key point for me is that there is no benefit in us having a licensee losing money and us capturing the money down the road," he said.
"It does actually hurt our network if the licensees aren't strong. They're the majority (two-thirds) of our network. The corporate are a much smaller percentage of our total retail footprint.
"There's probably a lot of mistrust that's been built up over a few years. But for the first time in a long time, we feel we're starting to turn that relationship around.
"There are some complicated issues, no doubt.
"But if the licensee network becomes no longer profitable or becomes problematic, then Australia Post faces real trouble."
Read more
Got a news tip?
Do you have a news tip in relation to this story, or anything else? Contact the ABC News Online Investigative Unit.Credits
- Reporting: Nikki Tugwell, Eleanor Bell, Ed Giles
- Video production: Eleanor Bell
- Photography: Ed Giles
- Editor: Nikki Tugwell
Couriers add to Australia Post bullying claims
Mail couriers have added their voices to the growing chorus of disgruntled Australia Post contractors, claiming they too are being squeezed dry and treated heavy-handedly by the postal giant.The ABC News Online Investigative Unit last week reported claims by corner-shop post offices that they are being bullied and forced to work at "sweatshop" rates in the booming parcels business that yielded $170.8m in profits for Australia Post last financial year.
Since that report, more than 60 Australia Post contractors have contacted the ABC to say they had been bullied by Australia Post, felt powerless or they were being treated unfairly.
Many were Australia Post mail couriers - both Messenger Post drivers (who take care of deliveries and much of the day-to-day logistics within Australia Post's letters division) and postal motorbike riders (who deliver many of Australia's letters door-to-door).
"I am losing money but [my manager] used legal terms of the contract to threaten me ... They're a big company but they're using these threats to push us about," one courier from New South Wales said.
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