Australia Post asks workers to ‘volunteer’ to deliver parcels
Australia Post workers have been asked to “volunteer” to deliver parcels – while top executives stood in line for millions in bonuses.
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Australia Post has backflipped on controversial plans to potentially hand out millions in executive bonuses after asking staff to volunteer their time and vehicles to deliver parcels.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Victorian employees with a driver’s licence and car had been emailed to request volunteers to help clear a huge backlog of parcels.
The spike in parcels is apparently the result of Victoria’s stage 4 restrictions, which sparked a surge in online shopping.
However, the unusual request came as Australia Post bigwigs awaited possible bonuses – despite the fact CEO Christine Holgate vowed in March to forego bonuses as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
The Federal Government also announced a six-month wage freeze for public service employees at around the same time.
The revelations of the potential bonuses coupled with the call for volunteers sparked intense backlash, and on Wednesday afternoon, Australia Post chairman Lucio Di Bartolomeo declared bonuses would not be paid after all.
“Today the Australia Post board determined that no short-term incentive (STI) payment would be made to the executive team for Financial Year 2020,” he said.
“I have every confidence in the executive team and their commitment to excellent performance in the year ahead.”
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In March, The Australian reported Ms Holgate told staff the executive team and board had agreed to take a 20 per cent cut in their salaries for “the months ahead” and to “forsake any right to a bonus payment for this year”, representing a combined reduction in potential earnings of more than 50 per cent.
But on Wednesday morning, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that executives were potentially standing to gain a total of $7 million in bonus payments.
The news came after Australia Post announced a “new record” revenue of $7.5 billion – a 7 per cent jump – and a profit before tax of $53.6 million in late August, boosted by the growth of e-commerce during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The claims caused a stir on social media, with one Twitter user likening Australia Post’s request to “modern-day slavery” while another said it showed “poor judgment” and “poor management”.
An Australia Post spokesperson told news.com.au the organisation was doing “all we can” to handle record parcel volumes, which were up 186 per cent in Victoria in the third week of August.
At the same time, Australia Post’s workforce capacity has been reduced due to Stage 4 restrictions.
“That’s why – like we do in the lead up to Christmas each year – we have put the call out to our Melbourne office team members to help us with our record volumes if they can,” the spokesperson said.
“Our people who help out on the weekend will receive time in lieu. We will also reimburse our people for the use of their cars as per our usual mileage and expenses claim process.
“So far we’ve had around 200 of our Melbourne office based team members express interest to lend a hand to their front line colleagues to deliver for customers during one of our busiest periods ever, particularly in Victoria.”
Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts Paul Fletcher said in a statement earlier today that Ms Holgate had “committed that the executive team would forego bonuses for the 2019-20 financial year, in light of the impact of COVID-19” in late March.
“At the request of Australia Post, the government announced it would temporarily provide Australia Post regulatory relief to support it to continue providing critical postal services for all Australians throughout the crisis,” Mr Fletcher said.
“Our government has honoured its commitment.
“The government expects Australia Post’s executive team to honour its commitment.”
The organisation has been hit with a string of complaints this year, with Australia Post taking to its Facebook page in May in response to hundreds of accusations of delivery delays during the coronavirus pandemic.
The organisation’s Facebook page was also littered with complaints that posties were failing to wait a reasonable amount of time after knocking or buzzing with a delivery, even as thousands of Aussies were working from home during coronavirus lockdown.
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Ms Holgate was revealed as the country’s highest paid civil servant last year, earning more than $2.5 million in 2018/19, equating to $208,000 every month.
That eye-watering figure is still a far cry from Ms Holgate’s predecessor Ahmed Fahour, whose $6.8 million salary sparked widespread condemnation and led to former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull admitting “that remuneration is too high”.
Originally published as Australia Post asks workers to ‘volunteer’ to deliver parcels