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@amber-eyed-girl wrote:

 

 

It's all about improving the finances before a sale.

 

Last year I had an Australia Post survey in my letterbox.

 

It asked, in part, whether I would be happiest with:

 

delivery only twice a week

 

delivery only three times a week

 

paying, for five day delivery, for the letter post.

 

It shows where the thinking is to cut costs...of course they don't care about the posties or the customers.

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We have to ask ourselves these days what exactly govt is all about.

They seem to be in a rush to privatise or corporatise everything they possibly can while ignoring the fact that many of these services are well described as a "public good".

An affordable mail service is by definition a service both the public and industry need yet they seem to be intent on making it as unaffordable as possible.

Even the Chinese govts command economic policies see the value of a subsidised postal system (particularly international for the obvious foreign exchange benefits).

UK Royal Mail worked out you can even do discount internatonal and actually show a profit!

@Lyndal - I didn't realise the courier rate was so low; I'd always thought it was $2 per parcel which is still pretty low.

Maybe Fair Work should have a look at this contracting caper in the same light as they looked at other industry underpayments.

If these couriers are required to work almost exclusively for AP at rates like these it is an obviously abusive contractual labour agreement.

On the figures you are quoting these contractors are running at a significant loss which can only result in massive corner cutting, inadequate vehicle maintenance, insurance coverage and the temptation to engage in pillaging.

The more I hear about all this the worse it seems!

The parcel system may be making a profit at the moment but if those pay rates are to be believed it won't stay that way for long.