Thursday November 2 2017
The Union asked Canada Post at two different consultation meetings this year, for a contingency plan to reduce or eliminate compressed flyers or Neighborhood Mail during the busy peak period. Canada Post provided no plan and will do little to address the Union’s concerns about the overburdening of letter carriers at this busy time of year.
This Issue Has Been Raised Year after Year
The Union has constantly raised the issue of compressed flyers with every level of the Corporation and we are constantly provided the same generic answers, such as; “send us your concerns and we will look into it”, “it is beyond our control”, “we have taken steps to deal with systemic issues”. None of these answers do anything to reduce the problem and reduce the impact on letter carriers. Canada Post management is more concerned about catering to its customer’s needs than it is about the health and safety of its employees. Flyers (Neighborhood Mail) are an important part of the business and sometimes the customers will make errors but the number of compressed mailings goes far beyond that. This is a major problem that Canada Post has the ability to correct.
What Are Our Rights?
When compressed flyers cause an overburdening problem on your route, management must address the problem. If one or more of your loops or loads between relay boxes are over 35 pounds, you have the right to demand that CPC management provide a solution. This may mean additional relay boxes if this is an ongoing problem or additional park and loop stops for mobiles. We also have the right to file grievances if we believe that the reason for the compression was within the control of local management, if there was no consultation and agreement with the local union. We also have the right to consult locally when there is a high volume of flyers (Neighborhood Mail) that is creating a hardship or over-burdening situation. We have the right to a safe work environment and reasonable workload.
What Can We Do?
Every time that you receive a compressed flyer in your depot, you need to report it to your local. Take a picture of the flyer and delivery control slip and send it in. This is important for all flyers that are compressed. Your local can then forward this information to national office. Canada Post must recognize just how big this problem is and then we need to force them to fix this problem. We do not offer one or two day flyer delivery in the Urban Operations Collective Agreement and yet this is what is happening.
Tell CPC – No More Compressed Flyers
Solidarity!