Wide restructuring of New Zealand Post's mail services will begin next week, with the potential for redundancies from its 6000-strong postal services division, including administration and support staff.
In a series of emails leaked to the Otago Daily Times yesterday, the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union outlined to delegates the content of a confidential two-day briefing about a fortnight ago by NZ Post postal service chief executive Peter Fenton, saying the union was "taking the briefing very seriously".
Annual mail volumes for NZ Post, a state-owned enterprise, have fallen about 30 million from a billion items.
Mr Fenton was reported to have given a state-of-the-business briefing, saying the decline in mail volume was "unprecedented", with revenue down and costs rising.
"Headcount reduction is seen as unavoidable - less mail means less work - and this will involve redundancies in some areas," the union briefing said.
NZ Post managers and union officials in Dunedin declined to comment on the confidential email, but Mr Fenton said in an interview late yesterday the options began with a reduction in hours, loss of jobs through natural attrition, "headcount freezes", voluntary redundancies and finally redundancies.
He declined to estimate what number of staff could be affected but it "was not to the magnitude" of 10% of the 6000 postal service staff.
"In a fixed-cost network business, a decline of 30 million [items] is a significant change," Mr Fenton said.
Whether there would be voluntary redundancies, or redundancies, would be "a process to work through locally", with unions and staff, Mr Fenton said.
Union delegates are scheduled to meet NZ Post management on site at the Dunedin's Strathallan St mail processing centre on Monday.
A staff meeting is scheduled at 10am on Tuesday.
Meetings will also be held next week at NZ Post's other automated mail centres, in Auckland, Waikato, Palmerston North, Wellington and Christchurch.
NZ Post employs more than 10,000 people in its mail centres, retail, data and Kiwibank services, plus a further 7000 contractors.
However, this restructuring round is centred on the 6000 staff involved in postal services, which includes 1600-1800 people at its six mail centres.
