John Maynard: Postal Workers Union co-president on NZ Post failing to remove dormant post-boxes in Hawke's Bay

NZ Post is copping criticism over its failure to remove Hawke's Bay post-boxes that have been sitting dormant for months.

New reports claim six NZ Post boxes across Hastings and Havelock North that were slated for removal are still being used by the public due to a lack of sign-postings.

Hawke's Bay Today also spoke to one woman who had completed a free bowel screening test - only to realise it hadn't been sent two weeks later.

Postal Workers Union co-president John Maynard says NZ Post should have consulted the public before shutting down the boxes.

"Our position is - if people are using those boxes, the company should not be taking them out. This is a publicly-owned institution and if they want to move boxes or take them out, the very least they should do is consult with the local community."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Right now, Enzid Post is under fire because it failed
to remove six post boxes and Hawke's Bay that were
no longer being emptied. The public continued to use the
post boxes. Now the problem with this Hawk's Bay Today
has spoken to one woman who posted her free bowl
screening test into one of the boxes. She only realized
it hadn't been collected two weeks later when the box

(00:21):
was overflowing. John Maynard is from the Postal Workers Union.
He's with me, Hi, John.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hi there. It's pretty bad, isn't it.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
It's terrible? How did no one realize?

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Well? New Zealand Posts went about pulling out all of
the roadside posting boxes they could find, and I lost
count when they'd taken out one thy five hundred and
some of them were taken out pretty quickly and pretty
quietly and chopped off at the ground level. But looks
like as well as not being able to collect the
Maileleue can't even figure out how to remove boxes which
they don't want to use. Our position is if people

(00:54):
are using those boxes, the company should not be taking
them out. This is a publicly owned institution and if
they want to move boxes or take them out, the
very least they should do is consult with the local
community through their local newspaper, and New Zealand Post will
not do that.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
In a funny way, does this not prove ends in
post point? I mean, if you look at this one
case of the postbox that was not nothing was collected
for nine months. I mean it took nine months for
anyone to actually notice. I mean, does that not tell
you that you don't need them?

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Well, it says that people have stopped using mail. And
we understand, of course the mail volumes are going down.
People use other methods of communication. New Zealand Posts needs
to adjust to that particular that particular role of how
people communicate. Now that's fine, but when they first started
pulling these out, we said to them, what's the criteria

(01:45):
for pulling them out? And they said thirty letters? And
we said thirty letters thirty letters a week or what
no thirty letters a day? If there were less than
thirty letters a day, they pulled them out. That's a
hell of a lot of mail going into a suburban
roadside postbox and New Zealand Post was pulling them out. Now,
wonder people have stopped posting letters They can't find anywhere
to post them, and yes that one those particular ones

(02:07):
have taken some time to fill up New Zealand post
is its reputation that's pretty bad and they don't do
much to defend it and how they can stay We
haven't wanted it for nine months and it's going to
stay there for another two months. It's just it's stood unbelievable.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
It's bad. I mean, if they're going to the fact is,
if they're not going to use them or not going
to empty them, then they shouldn't be there. I mean
that's the point, isn't it. Otherwise you end up with
people putting there. You know, their bow screening was samples
in there. What absurd. For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive,
listen live to news Talks. It'd be from four pm weekdays,

(02:44):
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.