via RNZ
Did you guess the union?
There are fears new golf carts, which will replace the traditional posties’ bike, will cause mental and physical stress on workers.
The amount spent on a fleet of imported eco-vehicles was $15 million, but John Maynard from the Postal Workers Union says trials of an early model weren’t encouraging.
“The posties found it quite difficult steering in and out to all the letterboxes, so the first hazard we identified is that people are going to get sore shoulders and sore elbows from the heavier steering,” he says.
“They’ve tested an electrical vehicle for five hours of people driving them, but they’re planning on falling on half our shifts with eight or more hours of people driving them.”
Mr Maynard says NZ Post has also failed to tell posties that they’re expected to deliver parcels weighing up to 25 kilograms, as the company reduces the size of its courier van fleet.
The vehicles carry loads of up to 200kg but are still small enough to be used on the footpath.The first shipment of 50 Norwegian-manufactured Paxster AS vehicles is due to arrive in mid-2016.
The battery-powered vehicles will be rolled-out in Auckland first.
Oh dear. The posties may have to get off their arses to walk from their motorised transport to the letterbox – all 3 steps of it. But if they don’t, they’ll have very sore arms from a day of steering.
And unions wonder why they continue to lose public support…
– Newshub
As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.
They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.
He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.
Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.
To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.
