The postal workers union has called on Australia Post to "come clean" about its reform plans as the company prepares to shed hundreds of senior management staff.
Australia Post has announced it will axe 900 staff, with the bulk of job losses to occur at its Melbourne headquarters and in Sydney.
It's understood the management group will be told of the details of the job cuts in meetings on Tuesday.
But the company has come in for heavy criticism over the way in which it has handled news of the job cuts, with the Communications Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU) saying staff were first informed of the developments through the media.
"Instead of just making announcements, they've got to come clean with detail about what they're contemplating and why and how this will affect the postal service in terms of its employees and the community it services," CEPU NSW state secretary Jim Metcher told AAP.
About 150 jobs will be lost in Sydney and about 70 per cent of the cuts will be made in Melbourne. A smaller number of jobs would be lost in Brisbane and in other locations.
"We understand that they're going to start the consultation process first with the senior management group because obviously they're in the gun with regards to their jobs. I called it consultation but it's probably that they will gather senior management and just tell them," Mr Metcher said.
The cuts are expected to save Australia Post about $90 million a year, and will offset the cost of reforms such as extended trading hours and deliveries of parcels on Saturdays.
On May 12, the day before the federal budget, Australia Post announced plans to deliver parcels on Saturdays and extend guaranteed next-day Express Post letter and satchel delivery to households six days a week from the end of the year.
The union wants the postal service to respond to reports that it may seek legislative change to its Community Service Obligation which requires Australia Post to deliver standard mail five days a week.
"If they're going to be contemplating job cuts that support reforms and they also want reforms that require legislative changes, then they've got to come clean with the workforce and the community and explain what they are and how they affect the postal service from now until the future," Mr Metcher said.
Australia Post chief Ahmed Fahour warned the day before the budget that the company was at a critical point.
"Our projections show that with letter volume declines now accelerating to between eight and 11 per cent per annum, our letter services, under current momentum, will lose $350 million this year and could grow to over $1 billion annually in losses," Mr Fahour said.
"If we wait another 12 months, it might be too late as the large losses from letters will overwhelm the organisation," he said.
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