Courier union ProDrive is considering taking legal action against Freightways over what it alleges are health and safety breaches.
But the company has refuted the concerns, and said it welcomes direct engagement with its contractors over any concern.
Freightways, which is publicly listed on the New Zealand stock exchange, owns several courier brands across the country including New Zealand Couriers, Post Haste Couriers and DX Mail among others, and relies on independent contractors to run its operations.
A group of 126 independent contractors represented by the ProDrive union made the decision on October 28 to “withdraw service” under the Health and Safety at Work Act (as they are unable to legally go on strike).
The group represented roughly 10% of Freightways’ workforce, and forced the company to put contingencies in place to pick up deliveries.
ProDrive union courier advocate Peter Gallagher said that issues have been compounding for a long time.
“We have been promised for years, particularly in the last year, that this company will deliver genuine partnership and good faith relationships with its contractors whereby it will offer them fairness, integrity, respect, trust, honesty, consultation, and collaboration,” Gallagher said.
“ProDrive has faced over 200 cases of contractors exceeding lawful worktimes and being unable to take rest breaks during the past 10 years.”
Gallagher said the company has insisted that it has “vigorously addressed this matter in the past six months”, a claim he said “ignores reality”.
Freightways chief executive Mark Troughear said during the walk-off that the business was working with its brands and contractor community to restore services as quickly as possible following the “temporary disruption to normal delivery and pick-up services”.
“A small number of contracted drivers suspended delivery services at short notice today. While the brands have endeavoured to put contingency plans in place, some customers may have experienced delays,” Troughear said.
“Freightways is committed to safe practices that ensure contractors manage their service requirements. It is the responsibility of both the company and contractor to ensure delivery runs are achievable and safe.
“Freightways’ brands actively monitor driver work hours to flag any areas of potential issues and welcomes direct engagement with any contractor that has a specific concern.”
Despite Troughear’s and Freightways’ statement of commitment, Gallagher said the contractors he represents were repeatedly facing unsafe work practices.
He said the couriers continued to work 13 to 14-hour shifts despite safety concerns, including often one to two hours each day of unpaid labour to sort freight they are set to deliver.
One such case involved an experienced courier who had their route reconfigured, with substantially increased residential deliveries.
“He was promised additional support to handle his afternoon ‘pickup’ work from the outset. However, this was removed without consultation or explanation from Freightways after one month. His worktime rapidly increased to 13-14 hours per day thereafter, without rest breaks,” Gallagher added.
After weeks of work the courier driver, in a moment of exhaustion, failed to ensure his van’s handbrake was engaged, which led to it rolling down the hill and flipping, crashing into a residential garage.
“His appeals for assistance were ignored, fatigue and exhaustion followed. The accident was really a foreseeable inevitability.”
ProDrive shared confidential details of two other cases of similar concerns regarding workload, and the inability for drivers to take rest breaks.
Gallagher said the business had continually ignored calls for greater protection for its contractors, noting that the business’s contractual arrangements were partially to blame.
Freightways controls every aspect of its contractual relationships with its couriers, with no exceptions to its contract terms.
The business controls the routes courier drivers take, the customers they interact with, the remuneration they receive for their work, approval of any additional personnel, the hours of work and what happens regarding vehicles.
Despite this, Freightways still describes its couriers as “independent contractors”.
Gallagher believes the business is dismissive of legitimate concerns, and reflects a “culture focused on denial, not prevention”.
ProDrive had asked Freightways to provide a safe working environment for its entire workforce, representing approximately 1100 contractors, and for it to cease the direction of contractors to sort freight on an unpaid basis.
The union also wanted Freightways to make available the transparent disclosure of each contractor’s “sustainability index” and the method used to determine each cost, including operational and labour.
Gallagher confirmed that if conditions don’t improve, legal action could be pursued.
When asked about the cases above, the company’s health and safety policies, support offered to workers following workplace accidents, and if any change would come from the union’s action, Troughear repeated his earlier statement.
At Freightways’ annual shareholder meeting on October 30, the company announced an 8.6% increase in revenue to $347 million in the first quarter of its current financial year.
Operating earnings (ebitda) were up 9.3% to $67.2m, and net profit rose 22.5% to $23.4m, led by a strong performance in the express package and business mail division.
Troughear told shareholders at the annual meeting that it feels like “we’ve ridden into headwinds for two and a half years and it’s no longer harder to make progress”.
He also said that one of the key principles for the business was “working as a family”.
“Our teams, where they can work as families really well in individual branches, brands and departments, tend to perform really well, so we do push that philosophy”.