Mail won't get through until after Easter break

By REBECCA WALSH

Send your Easter eggs early if you want them to get there on time.

For the first time in six years posties will not deliver mail on Easter Saturday, meaning no mail will be delivered over the four days of the Easter break.

New Zealand Post spokeswoman Tanya Henderson said every home in the country would receive a card next week outlining the change and would be encouraged to return a freepost section of the card saying what they thought of the idea.

"They can say 'it's a great inconvenience' or 'I'm perfectly happy for that to happen'. If everyone says 'I want my mail delivered on Saturday', then of course they will be listened to."

Ms Henderson said anecdotal evidence suggested people were happy not to have mail delivered on Easter Saturday. As many went away on holiday it removed the need to have mail held by the Post Office or get a neighbour to collect it.

The country's 2800 posties were keen to have a four-day holiday and had raised the issue at their pay negotiations last year.

Ms Henderson said rural posties would operate a limited service, including delivery of the New Zealand Herald.

She would not say how much mail was likely to be delayed.

Once feedback on the change had been collected, including comments from posties about how it affected their workload after Easter, a decision would be made about future Easter mail deliveries, Ms Henderson said.

Mark Griffiths, national postal co-ordinator for the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturers Union, which represents 1200 of the posties, said they were happy to have the holiday but acknowledged that what happened in future years depended on customer feedback.