Know Your Rights: An approach to Separate Bundle Delivery.

The Phantom Postie

With the introduction of Separate Bundle Delivery, it is important for Posties to not only know their rights, but to exercise them.

As we all know this idiotic system is designed to save time inside, where we have some control over the elements and the temperature, and take the act of merging into the rain and the heat.

The only time saved inside is the time it takes to throw in your "deep sort". Some examples I have seen are 3 trays in 25 minutes and 2.5 trays in 15 minutes.

So what are we saving? 15 or 25 minutes? No. We need to subtract the time that bundling up the deep sort away from that 15 or 25 minutes, so the saving is more like 10 or 20 minutes.

Sounds petty doesn't it. Well it is. But then we work for Australia Post and they are pushing this stupidity all the way through the courts.

Were you asked your opinion whether you thought this would work? No. Neither was I.

Sadly it looks like it will happen because Comcare has turned into AP's lapdog and sided with AP without any reference to the people who do the job, you and me.

OK what to do? Firstly do not refuse to do it. Save that form the Union sent you for when you need it.

A couple of things you need to know before we start.

First remember that AP says the speed limit on the footpath is 10kph. This is a maximum so your average speed will be about 5kmh. That means that if your round is 25kms, from the first point to the last, then without delivering any mail it has to take 5 hours. If you have 1000 points and it takes 4 seconds per point, that equals 4000 seconds or 1hr and 6 minutes, so we are up to 6hrs and 6mins.

Remember AP requires you to have a 30 minute break every 5 hrs, so we are up to 6hrs and 36mins.

Don't forget depots and don't forget to get those idiot small bundles out of the bag.

Just for the fun of it, have a read in the HART Motor cycle book at the method these morons want us to retrieve bundles from the panniers. We are supposed to stand up in front of the seat and twist back to undo the Velcro on the bag and drag a bundle out. Give it a try. You won't do it twice.

Anyway getting back to the point. There are 2000 point rounds that are 52kms long. These should take 13hrs 30 minutes but our buddies are being pushed to do them in 5hrs. How can that be right?

So we need to not speed on the round. We need to take our breaks. How? First, do not touch letters between letterboxes. Keep your hands off. This is the big one. Then do not touch letters until the bike is stopped. Slow down for all driveways. Do that and you will find out how big your round really is and you will discover potential hazards you never saw before. These are things AP has always said it wants us to do and now Ahmed says he is for zero so maybe they are genuine. No hang on, there are managers getting posties to do 2000 point rounds in under 5hrs. No I was wrong.

Breaks. We are entitled to 10 minutes tea break in the first 5 hours of work. It is up to you when you take it but take it you must. Lunch is taken 5hrs after start time so if you start out at 6.00 am and you are out on the round and feeling hungry go back to the depot and have lunch. Don't sit under a tree in the rain or the heat eating soggy sandwiches or a $4.50 pie or an $8.00 sandwich, go back and join the boss in the air conditioning and have a coffee that you make for nothing. You can even go to a toilet that is reasonably clean. The boss wouldn't go to some of the public dunnies we find on our rounds.

Sure this is against your friendly manager and you want to do the right thing by him or her but ask yourself, will they be sharing their bonus with you and if you come unstuck will your record as a fast postie be used to help you get back in the saddle or will they turn on you and make your life a misery when you need that the least. All the best. The Phantom Postie

The Unfolding Effect of the Original Lie. Post Delivering in it's own Delusion.

The Phantom Postie

As this sorry episode in AP's history is unfolding, it is becoming more and more apparent that no one in the management stream is prepared to stick their heads up and look where they are going.

One would suspect that this unwillingness stems from a knowledge, unspoken, that if that if they put their heads up, they will be soundly mugged by a set of facts.

Facts that put into question the entire fabric of good governance and respect worthy leadership.

The basis of our current situation is lodged firmly in a lie.

Perhaps a little history will help to explain.

Those of us old enough to remember will know that, before helmets and bright attention grabbing clothing Posties could ride their pushbikes wearing a floppy hat and a black raincoat.

Postmasters did not care what happened as long as the mail didn't clog up the hallway between the counter and the office.

Lots of Posties had part time jobs because they could rip up the rounds and still be in time to serve first drinks at the pub.

Then managers discovered an American term "Downtime" and changed the meaning from "periods when a system is unavailable" (Wikipedia) to "you have successfully completed the task I have assigned to you in a time I did not anticipate".

The upshot of this was that some pointy head started to ask "well if they can do it that fast then why are we paying them to finish early".

A perfectly reasonable question don't you think?

Sure. The only problem was that it was the old post masters that actually knew how big a round could sustainably be, were not listened to or were lured away with the old stick and carrot trick.

Introduce carrots like targets and bonuses for the managers and the truth goes out the window.

Then introduce "decas" and "time outs" and "worktools" and other sorts of big sticks for the Posties.

Then out of the blue along came the insurance companies and said to the Government. "We are paying out too much money for workplace injuries and rehabilitation. We need legislation to stop employers using workers as cannon fodder."

The Government listened and introduced the "Occupational Health and Safety Bill 1976".

Now our managers had a dilemma. "How can we keep control of our workers and not get our selves sued when they "deliberately crash their bikes so they can get a day off"? (overheard at a first aid course)."

Easy, we can start OHS committees and make it look like we care because we do care, because we, the managers, can be fined if we don't.

This became a bit of a chore and it meant that the managers had to be active in OHS.

"Hell there must be a way around this" They said. "We are a self insurer and we are supported by the rest of the oppressed manager class, so we will have our liberal Government change section 21 of the OHS legislation to make the victim responsible for his own injury. That takes away the responsibility from the managers and places it on the shoulders of the Postie lying on the road bleeding.

All the managers have to do is tell the Posties once and get them to sign a piece of paper that proves they were told and we are in the clear.

Hang on. "What about Posts own safety policies?"

"Who cares? They have been told"

"But you still want them to do their rounds as fast as the old guys did on their pushbikes"

"Yes, other wise the business will fold"

"But that means the business relies on Posties to break a federal law to make a profit"

"Nothing to do with us. They were told."

"But you managers still pressure people to speed on the rounds"

"But if they don't the business will fold"

So here we see the crux of the matter. For years managers have been using the easy going nature of the average Postie, to break the law, to avoid conflict with the managers. The pay off for the postie was early days and the warm glow of a job well done. We never saw a slow postie praised did we.

The rounds were a manageable size and Post was making enough profit to not look too closely at the culture that had evolved over the years.

Enter the GFC and the supposed "down turn in mail volumes"(Check the annual financial reports, on line, to get a handle on that one.)

The pointy heads surface again and say. "These Posties are getting too much down time. We need to find a way to make them work their hours."

So they bring in the time shifting SBD. Time shifted from inside to outside. Great if you're sitting in an office.

Not so good if you are sitting on a motor bike.

One of the platforms of SBD was that it will slow the Posties down and get them to ride according to Aust Post policy.

What an admission!! They have known for years that posties speed on the rounds and have done nothing about it. And SBD failed miserably to accomplish that anyway. It didn't slow any body down.

If an auditor was to go through the books and add up all the time and money that Posties have given away in overtime and mealies to pressure and lies from managers, those managers should be on their knees thanking the posties for keeping the business afloat and supplying their bonuses year after year.

So what was the lie? It is very simple. Managers have always reported to their superiors that the mail is being delivered at a certain cost. That cost has always been subsidised by Posties. Their superiors have never questioned how that cost was broken down, and if they have, and done nothing about it, they are complicit in a conspiracy to defraud the workers because workers are being forced to break the law and the business is profiting from an illegal act.

Managers have never taken into account that round sizes need to be set NOT on a mythical time set by people who speed on the rounds. The round sizes need to be set by people who will ride according to Aust Post's own regulations. This has never been done. The culture of law breaking needs to be broken not the backs of the workers.

The Phantom Postie