Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Jobs at risk as NZ Post downsizes

Updated at 7:17 pm on 13 May 2011

New Zealand Post is to close or downsize 14 KiwiBank and PostShop stores, putting 90 jobs at risk.

Auckland bears the brunt of the closures, while Wellington and Dunedin are also affected.

Four shops will close in Auckland, with three more losing their KiwiBank service to become post centres only.

Two outlets in Wellington will close, with another downsized to become a post centre. One shop will close in Dunedin.

New Plymouth, Palmerston North and Carteron will all lose shops to post-only services.

New Zealand Post says the changes come as people alter their habits to shop in malls or use online banking. It plans to set up self-service kiosks.

The national secretary of the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union, Andrew Little, says the union has negotiated with New Zealand Post for an extra $800 training bonus for employees affected.

"The priority for us is to have as many people affected by the downgrades or closures of the PostShops either redeployed or transferred to any other agency who take over the PostShops."

New Zealand Post says it cannot yet be sure how many redundancies there will be, as some stores may be relocated or consolidated in other areas.

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