In what the Postal Workers Union called NZ Post’s
blunt, cold and uncaring behaviour modification process, NZ
Post had instructed posties to return to sender mail
addressed to the street addresses of business and other
institutions which also had PO Boxes and Private
Bags.
The Union’s concern for hospital patients and
people in prisons also having their mail returned to sender
has been reflected in Parliament’s Petitions Committee
report to the House. The Committee was reporting on the
petition of the Postal Workers Union after NZ Post
introduced a new policy in May 2024 that sees tens of
thousands of letters being returned to sender:
https://selectcommittees.parliament.nz/v/SelectCommitteeReport/99bddcaa-f6f5-4de9-db1c-08df18232885
.
The Union says the company’s cost cutting and
other reasons for the policy change are far outweighed by
the cost to the senders of their mail returned undelivered,
the undermining of business efficiencies and community
relationships, and the loss of confidence in the publicly
owned postal network.
Even the Board of NZ Post seemed
to have no concern for hospital patients being included in
the large volumes of mail being returned to sender when mail
had been addressed to the street address of the hospitals.
Cards to an Emergency Department of one hospital and a
Nursing Station at another hospital have also been returned
to sender undelivered.
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The Union received no reply
from its letter to the Chairperson setting out the Union’s
concerns, and there appears to have been no Board
intervention to ensure that mail with a clear address and
correct postage was delivered to hospital staff and patients
and the thousands of businesses and institutions affected by
the new policy.
As a State Owned Enterprise NZ Post is
required by the State Owned Enterprises Act to be “an
organisation that exhibits a sense of social responsibility
by having regard to the interests of the community in which
it operates and by endeavouring to accommodate or encourage
these when able to do so”.
In responding to the
Union’s petition the Petitions Committee has recommended
that the Government seek a review of NZ Post’s 2024 policy
change relating to mail redirection.
While the Union
awaits the outcome of the Committee’s recommendation to
the Government, the Union will continue to vigorously
challenge NZ Post to ensure that, in the finest tradition of
mail delivery services, the mail must get
through.
