CEPU: Australia Post Crisis

Australia Post will this week announce it is set to shed 900 jobs, according to reports, with most positions to go from operations in Melbourne.

A spokesman for Australia Post declined to comment about the reported job losses.

"Australia Post has made it very clear that it is confronting dramatic change due to the impact of declining revenues in our letters service," the spokesman said.

Jim Metcher from the postal workers' union, CEPU, said any cuts would be a "terrible blow".

He said Australia Post needs to urgently address its workers.


Australia Post must respect the interests of its workers and the communities that rely on postal services as it goes through a difficult reform process, the postal workers’ union said today.

Any workers whose jobs are made redundant should be given the opportunity to be retrained and redeployed within the organisation, said CEPU Postal and Telecommunications NSW Secretary Jim Metcher.

“It’s a terrible blow to lose jobs on this scale, but Australia Post is a big and evolving organisation and we’ll be making the case that new roles should be found for people who want to continue their service.

“The decline in volume of small letter delivery, Australia Post’s traditional service, does need to be addressed.

“But there is significant growth in new and emerging parts of the business like parcel delivery.

“The union intends to work with Australia Post to make sure that in the reform process there is a focus on providing good, secure jobs for Australia Post employees and reliable, affordable services for the community.

“Australia Post is a big operation with 33,000 employees nationwide. Despite the decline in letter volumes it is still returning a profit.

“While change is inevitable, Australia Post can afford to do the right thing by workers and communities.”