MELAKA – A group of 23 Pos Riders in Melaka are urging Pos Malaysia Bhd (Pos Malaysia) to reconsider its action in terminating their contracts during Phase 1 of the National Recovery Plan without any prior consultations.
“What’s more distressing is that the termination date does not follow the terms of the contract, and the letter was just emailed to us,” one of the riders, Muhamad Yusof Ashraf Ali, 25, claims.
“I was given the letter on June 22 stating that the contract would end on July 1, which is today. So the 14-day notice (stated in the contract) has not been followed,” he said here today.
Yusof said they protested Pos Malaysia’s action because there are riders who have loans to pay after buying a van costing between RM10,000 and RM15,000, which was one of the conditions to become a Pos Rider.
Due to the sudden termination of the contract, they would be forced to pay off the loans despite having no source of income, he said.
“I hope Pos Malaysia will look into our plight and review their decision because it will be impossible for us to get jobs at this present time. For me, this is really unfair because we have performed our tasks diligently,” Yusof said.
Muhammad Naim Ghani, 29, said he became a Pos Rider because he was convinced of Pos Malaysia’s credibility and was willing to invest RM10,000 to buy a van with a loan from his father.
“I used to do it part-time, but when I was offered to do it full-time, I felt it was an opportunity I could not ignore. Now, the contract has been terminated after only one year.
“I understand that there’s currently not much stuff to deliver and Pos Riders are no longer required, but we have bought vans and invested our money on this. For those who took loans, how are they going to pay off their debt? If we hadn’t been told to buy vans, I would understand. We are really feeling aggrieved,” he said.
In response, Pos Malaysia explained that the first phase of their rationalisation drive came into effect today in all areas except Klang Valley, Sabah, and Sarawak, and letters of termination with 14-day notice had been issued to all the Pos Riders involved.
A Pos Malaysia spokesman said despite the continued increase in online shopping this year, the competitive marketing landscape has led e-commerce providers to set up their own delivery service.
“It led to reduced demand for deliveries via courier service providers, hence reducing the need for extra human resources and forcing Pos Malaysia to rationalise its Pos Rider programme,” he said in a statement.
The spokesman said Pos Rider was a crowdsourcing programme that was intended to support the permanent courier staff at Pos Malaysia, especially during peak periods.
The programme has no doubt met the demand during the movement control order period last year when the volume of parcels shot up due to the increase in online shopping, creating 1,400 jobs.
“However, during challenging times like this pandemic, we need to consider costs and optimise our current resources to ensure business sustainability and safeguard the well-being of more than 13,600 Pos Malaysia workers nationwide.
“Besides the stiff competition, we also feel the effects of the very low prices offered by some of the industry players that are disrupting the market. This has forced us to focus on cost-cutting and prudent spending,” he said. – Bernama, July 1, 2021
