Waipā posties Danny and Ian Kennedy asked a private investigator to help prove NZ Post had broken their contract to deliver “all mail” in the RD3 Tamahere postal district.
NZPost rural delivery contractors Ian and Danny Kennedy (left), with Pro Drovers Advocates CEO Peter Gallagher, are being solidly backed by their community.
The private investigator followed a white Toyota HiAce van from NZ Post’s Hautapu depot on August 8, 2023, and found it regularly undertaking deliveries to clients within the district.
Further surveillance of other vehicles of interest was also recommended.
The News has seen the private investigator’s report.
The Kennedys were three years into their contract with NZ Post to deliver “all mail” in the RD3 Tamahere district in November 2023 when it was cancelled after they complained of a breach.
Justice Ian Gault didn’t grant the Kennedys an injunction stopping the contract being cancelled but said there were questions around NZ Post’s termination notice.
“We are seeking the lost value of our run, damages from discovery (lost income from NZ Post taking our remuneration and giving it to their couriers delivering in the RD3 run), damages for breach of contract (and wrongful termination of contract) and any other potential damages so determined by the court for breach of contract,” Danny Kennedy said.
NZ Post has declined to comment on the matter.
ProDrive advocate Pete Gallagher said he was still awaiting a reply from NZ Post after his request for a ministerial inquiry was dismissed by Simeon Brown after it had been passed to him from Chris Bishop and Paul Goldsmith.
Postal Workers Union of Australasia co-national president John Maynard has written to NZ Post’s Matthew Riordan on the organisation’s media silence on the matter.
Maynard wanted to know if other NZ Post contractors were delivering in the area contracted to the Kennedys, and if their contract was cancelled solely because they challenged NZ Post about other contractors operating in the area they had believed they had exclusive NZ Post coverage.
“The report leaves the clear impression that the Kennedy’s have had to move far away from close family connections in Hamilton and Auckland – across Cook Strait – as a direct result of their financial losses resulting from NZ Post’s unilateral, and what comes across as a punitive action, in terminating their contract with NZ Post,” Maynard wrote.
“Is this a conclusion that can be drawn from NZ Post’s behaviour that NZ Post is prepared to live with?”
Maynard too is awaiting a reply.
Maynard is representing courier drivers asking the Employment Court to declare they are employees rather than contractors. Contractors are not eligible for holiday pay, overtime, sick leave, and superannuation.
Danny and Ian Kennedy are contesting New Zealand Post’s new delivery plan.
