90 jobs lost in the Waikato as NZ Post closes mail centre

New Zealand Post has confirmed that 90 jobs will be lost when it closes its Waikato mail processing centre.

The confirmation comes after NZ Post announced in June last year that it would be closing its Waikato, Wellington and Dunedin mail centres, at a cost of 500 jobs in total.

“New Zealand Post is a big employer in the regions and closing the Waikato mail centre will have a huge impact on the whole community,” says Joe Gallagher, EPMU postal industry organiser.

“This is just another step in the running-down of New Zealand Post by a government which doesn’t value the postal service and doesn’t have a plan to support the regions.”

New Zealand Post management has previously blamed declining mail volumes to justify its reduction in service and jobs. They have also announced plans to franchise out PostShops to third parties, and even replace PostShops with self-service kiosks.

“The fact is that Post is still very profitable,” says Joe Gallagher. “But the government has given them permission to reduce delivery days, reduce the level of service provided to the community, and cut jobs up and down the country.”

“It’s really disappointing that we have a government more interested in building new roads than investing in jobs and regional development.”

EPMU members at NZ Post will be entitled to redundancy pay under their collective agreement.

ENDS

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