The Postal Workers Union expects some community resistance to any attempt by NZ Post to refuse to deliver mail to the traditional household letterbox at the gate. A consultation process on proposed changes to NZ Post’s Deed of Understanding with the NZ Government is being run by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and closes on Tuesday. One of the proposed changes to NZ Post’s mail delivery service is that householders’ mail would no longer be delivered to the gate but instead to what are called ‘communal points’.

The Postal Workers Union says the issue is not about how many letters people post themselves, but where NZ Post wants to deliver their mail to. NZ Post can’t remove householder’s letterboxes at the gate, but MBIE says NZ Post just doesn’t want to put anything in their letterboxes.

The State Owned Enterprises Act requires NZ Post to have regard to the interests of the community, and to accommodate these when able to do so. The Union believes NZ Post is required to consult with any communities in which it seeks to establish communal points for mail delivery, and then to work to accommodate the wishes of the community.

NZ Post wants to lay off all 700 of its posties and mail service employees and have the mail delivered instead by courier van. Many couriers don’t want the additional stopping and parking problems of trying to deliver mail from vans in urban areas. However under their ‘take it or leave it’ Owner Driver contracts NZ Post can force the couriers to deliver householders’ mail to so-called communal points or clusters of letterboxes.

The Union has met with MBIE about what the Union considers to be MBIE’s misleading submission process – there is nowhere on the MBIE on-line submission template for householders to express their opposition to mail being delivered to a communal point and not to their letterbox.

The 10% of the population in the 2023 Census who do not have access to the internet and who may have the most to lose without household mail deliveries are effectively excluded from the consultation process.

The Union believes the information collected by MBIE lacks integrity as a basis for advice to be given to the Minister of State Owned Enterprises who would be making the final decision about any changes to the Deed.

The Union wants to hear from householders and community groups who want to take a stand against any attempt by NZ Post to refuse to deliver mail to their front gate.

© Scoop Media