
Issue No 72		06 October 2000

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News

Australia Post Exposes Staff to Bomb Danger

A CEPU investigation has found Australia Post negligently exposes its workforce to threats from mail bombs and other dangerous materials sent through the postal system.


	CEPU Secretary Jim Metcher at Council

The union says an incident that occurred on Sunday evening in the Sydney West Letters Facility, the largest mail processing center in the Southern Hemisphere, demonstrates Australia Post's complete disregard for the welfare of their employees.

Following the detection of a suspect mail item by an employee, the on duty manager carried the item through the workplace, passing hundreds of staff. When they got to the so-called 'isolated area', the manager instructed an employee to open the suspect item before Police had arrived. Australia Post violated it's own procedures and didn't bother to inform its employees or the police of the threat of a bomb.

CEPU Postal and Communication Branch Secretary Jim Metcher says Australia Post was extremely lucky that on this occasion, the suspect mail item, which was beeping at the time it was discovered, was only a faulty smoke alarm being sent back to the manufacturer.

'Australia Post is claiming that all it's staff have been trained adequately in these procedures, in spite of evidence collected by the CEPU that demonstrates that 190 people out of 200 on a shift at the mail center had not received training,' he says.

"It is clear from what happened on Sunday night that Australia Post management do not take these threats seriously as they continue to place the health and safety of postal workers and the public at a very real risk. The last thing we want is a repeat of the 1998 Canberra Mail Centre Bomb explosion."

In the 1998 mail bomb explosion at the Canberra Mail Centre two postal workers were seriously injured when a letter bomb exploded during the normal sorting of mail.

In an another petty act the time the Union spent investigating this issue has been deemed to be industrial action and employees have had their wages docked for the period of 30 minutes, which they spent talking to the CEPU about the health and safety issue.

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Issue 72 contents

Interview: Taking It To The Union Busters
ACTU Assistant Secretary Richard Marles talks to Workers Online about turning back the anti-union sentiment growing in the business community, responsible unionism and the sense of fun to be found at the ACTU.

International: The White Knights
The International Labour Organisation has become the great hope for those fighting to give globalisation a human face. Australian Bob Kyloh is one of those working with trade unions within the ILO to make it happen.

Politics: Industrial Democracy for Australia
Glenn Patmore argues we need new forms of employee representation in the workplace to broaden employee participation.

Unions: Behind The Scenes
In a small office at Homebush Bay, as the world focused on all that was positive about our games, Unions 2000 and SOCOG officials worked tirelessly to ensure that no worker was ripped off. Chris Christoudoulou reports.

Satire: Parade of Icons �Could Have Included Even More Ex-Aussies� Say Critics
The selection of Greg Norman, Paul Hogan and Elle Macpherson to represent Australia in the �Parade of Icons� during the Closing Ceremony of the Sydney Games last night has prompted a storm of complaints from other famous former Australians.

Review: Elliott Smiths Figure 8
Smith is basically the secret love child of the fab four and it�s so blatantly obvious. That�s not a bad thing because one thing Lennon and McCartney were reknown for was there ability to pen catchy tunes.

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