Australia Post warned last week that it couldn’t guarantee parcels sent now would arrive at their destinations by Christmas, due to a massive backlog and a shortage of workers.
Now Aussies can expect an even harsher bottleneck, as delivery drivers from three of the country’s largest delivery services are planning to strike for 24 hours on Thursday.
StarTrack, FedEx and BevChain staffers will be taking part in the staff, which follows six months of negotiations between the companies and the Transport Workers Union. The drivers are demanding better pay and conditions, and less outsourcing of overtime work to casual drivers.
“As good deals are reached locking in strong job security clauses and fair pay and super increases across major transport operators, StarTrack and FedEx are exposed as outliers persisting with their attacks on workers and trying to profit off the pandemic,” Michael Kaine, national secretary at the TWU, said.
“On the one hand, you have a government-owned company which has deliberately delayed reaching an agreement to swindle workers for as long as possible. On the other, an international union-busting juggernaut which pulled in over $US5 billion in net profit last year.
“Based on performance, these companies should have been the first to provide job security guarantees and fair pay and conditions to reflect workers’ sacrifices and efforts during the pandemic,” Kaine continued.
“Instead, they have pushed workers to the brink with no choice but to pursue legal industrial action to break the impasse before the Christmas surge in demand.”
