300 posties gone, just one redundancy

Postal Workers Union spokesman John Maynard said many posties had been hired on fixed-terms. Photo / Chris Gorman

Hundreds of posties will lose their jobs when mail delivery days are slashed next month, but just one compulsory redundancy is expected, New Zealand Post chairman Sir Michael Cullen says.

Sir Michael is proud of how staff cuts are being handled ahead of the delivery reduction.

However, the Postal Workers Union says that many posties will leave unwillingly, but are on fixed-term contracts and ineligible for redundancy.

About 300 posties are expected to be out of the job next month, followed by another 100 in the next couple of years.

Sir Michael said he accepts some posties are feeling upset and under-valued.

"It is not their fault. That's the hard thing I think for people to gather." Some had been helped to gain new qualifications to prepare for new careers.

"We've done our very best to help people. And I know that's still not enough for many people and that's absolutely understandable."

The future of the company was expected to be mainly in parcel delivery.

Postal Workers Union spokesman John Maynard said many posties had been hired on fixed-terms and some felt "used" by the company as a stop-gap measure.

It meant people losing work next month would not be counted in redundancy figures.

"The amount of redundancy numbers the company is going to pay out will be a lot less than 400."

NZ Post chairman Sir Michael Cullen said he accepts some posties are feeling upset and under-valued.

The union has been in conflict with the company about whether it is breaching the collective agreement over the required number of permanent workers.