Friday September 15 2017

Health and safety issues, for RSMC at Canada Post, includes concerns over work methods that may increase the risk of injuries. This includes the case of the personal vehicle used on RSMC routes. A prime example is the potential of overload issues due to the significant increase to parcel volumes in relation to the space in our vehicles.
Take a minute and think about the design and purpose of the personal vehicle that you load every day and ask yourself “Is this vehicle safe with this product loaded?”
What would happen if you loaded too much weight in the vehicle or if you do not have a clear line of sight out of the back of your vehicle?

How can we reduce the risk?

RSMC have a process to load level and it is used in situations where the Corporation can spread the work over more than one day.

How do we apply load leveling?

The first step is to inform the local postal official (LPO) or supervisor that you have a concern about delivering and request they prioritize the products for the day.
The LPO or supervisor accepts the request and load levels the day ensuring our delivery is safe and done all in one day.

If Management refuses the request to load level, What are the options?

In order to do your job safely you need to ensure that the load is not obstructing your line of vision.
This may result in having to do several trips to deliver the load.
The other option is to do extra trips while out on delivery. There are two clear distinct payments. Extra trips are calculated through Appendix “A” and Article 33 values which are paid through an adhoc payment.
The vehicle is paid through the application of clause 33.01 based on the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) per kilometer amount.
Values are paid for the drive time by the application of Appendix “A” Values overlaid based on zone and point of call (POC) per KM.
It has been reported in some locations that the Corporation has only been paying for the vehicle expense and not for the drive time. If this is the case, members are encouraged to contact their Local to resolve the issue and file a grievance if appropriate.

We all deserve to arrive home safely!

In solidarity,
Chris Pleasants
National Union Representative – Grievances (English)