Category: Uncategorized

In order to fully understand the threat to our working lives posed by Separate Sort from Delivery (SSD), we need to understand what it is and how it poses new risks and strains to Letter Carriers. Currently, a Letter Carrier sorts and prepares their own mail, then they go out and deliver it. Under the SSD system, a “Router” will spend all day inside and sort the mail for several other routes, while Letter Carriers spend more time outside and less time inside. You can see a basic visual representation of this below:

The longer a Letter Carrier spends outside, the further they walk. Additionally, they are exposed to extreme weather events such as heat waves, freezing temperatures and forest fire smoke for longer. This all has a serious impact on the health of Letter Carriers, and this is all structured on an “average volume” day. The longer a route is, the harder it is to complete on heavy volume days such as when property taxes or vacant home assessments go out to every address on the route.

From Canada Post’s own testimony during the National SSD Grievance:

“With the help of a document filed as Exhibit E‐3, Mr. Lefler stated, using the North Fraser depot as an example, that letter carriers have been working just as much since the implementation of the SSD project, the difference being that they work 35 minutes less indoors and 35 minutes more outdoors, while the number of routes has remained the same.” (Emphasis Added)

That was in 2019, then North Fraser had another restructure in 2022 that made the routes even longer!

One of the other major issues with SSD is that when the sortation is taken away from letter carriers and given to the routers, the time values used to calculate a fair 8-hour work day are erased. Someone in Ottawa manually deletes the information taken from the volume count, and the Union gets a report with zeroed out information. Routers work is no longer measured by time value, and when they are done their sorting duties, they are assigned additional work at-will by the supervisor, and can even be assigned delivery despite being “inside” workers.

SSD is taking away the fair and balanced system of time values, and taking us back 60 years of collective progress. The Corporation continues to push this system on us without National consultation, a violation of Article 38.02 and a slap in the face to every carrier across the country.

This contract, WE MUST FIGHT TO ELIMINATE SEPARATE SORT FROM DELIVERY

In Solidarity,

Jamie McCurrach, 1sr Vice President.

WorkSafe BC (WCB) is a third-party Board that covers injuries that occur on the job, and in some cases, the property surrounding a workplace. For example, if the employer failed to salt and de-ice the parking lot and an employee slipped and fell causing injury, this would be considered a workplace injury. WorkSafe BC covers a wide range of work-related injuries and it does not necessarily need a singular or specific incident to file a claim. Claims can also be filed under aggravation of a pre-existing condition, repetitive strain, strains and pains. An example of repetitive injury would be carpal tunnel syndrome and sciatica.

When any injury or pain starts at work, report it! See a first aid attendant and have it documented in the log book. See a healthcare provider, either a walk-in clinic or family doctor as soon as you can and advise them this is a work-related injury. Go on-line at WorkSafeBC.ca and file your claim. If work needs to be missed due to an injury, WorkSafe BC will cover 70% as ‘IOD Pending’ and 75% of wage loss when approved. There will be no disruption to your pay schedule. Furthermore, WorkSafe covers 100% for healthcare needs to aid in healing such as physiotherapy, acupuncture as well as needed medical aids such as back braces, splints, medications, and bandages etc.

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At a time of global conflict, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers is united in our commitment to the principles of peace, solidarity, and justice. It is our collective duty to address the issues affecting our world today, and in doing so, promote a better, brighter future.

Our constitution speaks to our support for the rights of the Palestinian people and our pursuit of peace. The Israel/Palestine conflict continues to cause suffering to innocent people on both sides, especially children. As supporters of justice, we call for an immediate cease-fire, recognizing it as the first step toward achieving the peace that all people deserve. We ask all sides to ensure the safety and well-being of those living in this conflict-torn region and engage in talks for a peaceful resolution.

The global stage presents another difficult scenario: the Russia/Ukraine crisis. The tension in this region has led to great hardships for the Ukrainian people and threatens global stability. It is important that we stand in solidarity with Ukraine and work for a peaceful resolution. Let us remember that peace is a universal goal and goes beyond all borders, boundaries and beliefs.

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Recently our membership has been subjected to an onslaught of discipline regarding plant safety rules.

We all are concerned about our health and safety and strive every day to work in a way that is sustainable and not detrimental to our safety. However, when we see the Corporation disregarding our rotation of duties on a daily basis, when Canada Post constantly operates without a full compliment of employees thereby overburdening people, when we see daily demands being placed on our bodies that will lead to injury, we obviously will feel that the Corporation does not truly care about our health and safety.

• We want to work in an environment that fits what the stated goals of Canada Post are, a workplace that shows respect for our health, safety and physical well-being.
• We want to work on a work floor where we respect each other as colleagues and treat each other as we would like to be treated.
• We want to be involved in processes that build on these shared values and stated goals. What we don’t want is to be harassed and bullied into doing things that we feel are damaging to our health and safety.
• We do not want to be treated without due respect and understanding of our struggles.
• We do not want to be subjected to unnecessary discipline with the subsequent loss of income as well as loss of working people on the floor which in turn will lead to more overburdening.
• We want to work without fear of being singled out for discipline when others are respectfully coached.
• We want to work where no one is above the law, where everyone is treated equally. To this end we are encouraging all of our membership to make sure to follow the words of the Canada Post Code of Conduct regarding supervisors, superintendents, managers and directors breaching plant safety rules.

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