'Go home on time day' - not at Townsville DC
Did you 'Go home on time' last week? We know the Townsville Delivery Centre posties in Qld didn’t. In fact, the Townsville posties are expected to work unreasonable levels of overtime on a daily basis. The issue of an unreasonable amount of overtime in Qld DCs has been raised previously by the CWU National Office in the Fair Work Commission on behalf of Qld members. And members won.
The posties in the Townsville DC say they often don’t hit the road until after 11.00am due to heavy mail volumes and unaddressed staff shortages. Then they are expected to stay out longer to deliver their own round and the cut-ups of unstaffed rounds.
With temperatures climbing above 30C and 80% humidity they are feeling the effects of fatigue from long work hours. They have raised the issue locally but without resolution. The CWU National Office has raised the matter nationally.
The battle for work-life balance is important with the findings of a report Walking the Tightrope released last week by the Australia Institute revealing the average full-time worker is doing six hours of unpaid overtime each week worth an estimated $9471 a year. Hardworking Australians are 'donating $110 billion in free labour each year! The reasons why people are doing more overtime include job insecurity and an expectation from bosses that employees will work longer hours. Research by the School of Population Health at Adelaide University, demonstrates long work hours affected not only the individual but their family.
Last Wednesday, 19 November, was National 'Go Home on Time' day – as declared by Beyond Blue.
