Update on 900 jobs cut from Australia Post
Five weeks after media announcements of 900 job cuts in Australia Post, approximately 428 jobs will be gone by September 2014 Post told the union yesterday.
The bulk of the job cuts are in Postal Services (CMS & Retail). The next big area hit with job cuts is Parcel Services. Smaller numbers are expected to go in IDT, Corporate & Commercial Services, Corporate Affairs & Peoples, and Marketing & Customer Experience. All states are impacted with NSW and Victoria having the bulk of the redundancies. Post provided numbers but we were asked not to publish the numbers.
About 50% of the initial jobs identified are contract managers and 50% are award employees in administration and support roles.
Frontline operational and customer facing roles are not part of the 900 jobs to be cut.
Despite earlier advice to the union, contractors are not part of the 900 jobs to be cut. Post have not identified any contractor jobs but made the sweeping statement that half of the contractor jobs will be gone by the end of September 2014.
Process for dealing with job cuts
Consultation with employees affected by the proposed job cuts will commence next week from 30 July 2014. Further consultation with the union about specific jobs to be cut will occur next week. The National Office and Branches will be involved in discussions with the various Business Units about the positions identified as redundant.
During the consultation phase and under the RRR procedures there is an opportunity to argue that specific positions should not be made redundant. Under the RRR Agreement where a specific position is identified as surplus, consultation will commence with the individual and their union, if requested. Under the RRR Agreement where there are surplus positions which cannot be clearly identified and these are confirmed with the union Post may invite all affected employees at that level to volunteer for retrenchment.
Award employees are also eligible to register for the Swaps Register. This Swaps Register provides an opportunity for employees to swap their nominal position with a surplus employee in exchange for a voluntary redundancy.
Your union can also be involved in discussions with Post on behalf of individual members. Contact your CWU Branch if you need help.
