Free mail from today

Date: 14 December 2009

Postal workers across Australia will deliver mail today regardless of whether it is stamped.

"If people mail a Christmas card from this morning via the red Australia Post street post boxes, and it doesn't contain a stamp, we will still deliver the mail to the end destination," said Communications Electrical, and Plumbing Union (CEPU) National President Ed Husic.

"This move is part of our industrial action campaign against Australia Post, which has refused to listen to our members concerns about their job security, workplace safety and take home pay.

"We've designed our action to have maximum effect on Australia Post, while aiming to minimise public inconvenience.

"Our message to the public: if you want to send a Christmas card this year, 'ditch the e-mail: go free-mail'," said Mr Husic.

"It's always advisable to put a return address on the back of a card or envelope and it will give senders peace of mind in the event that Australia Post intervenes to try and return mail back to sender."

Mr Husic said that while the union had drawn up a campaign designed to minimise public impact, wider disruptions to Christmas mail deliveries were likely following controversial moves by Australia Post to dock large slabs of pay for workers observing partial work bans.

"Late last week management at Post advised our members that if they followed work bans for as little as 15 minutes, they would lose a day's pay.

"Our members already understand that they will lose pay if they stop work but Australia Post has taken the hardest line imaginable under the law - and this approach will basically see many postal workers decline to present themselves for work.

"We wrote to Australia Post calling on them to re-think their hardline approach - but they adopted a typically uncompromising stance, which has helped triggered this entire dispute in the first place.

For further information

Contact:	Ed Husic, National President
Union:	CEPU
Contact Mobile:	0437 371372
WWW:	http://www.cepuconnects.org/

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