Canada Post Strike: Mail is far from "obsolete"

While the Canadian Union of Postal Workers is on strike nationwide in Calgary, unionized employees of Canada Post who are on picket lines say their work is more relevant than ever thanks to online shopping and legal cannabis.

With e-commerce and e-invoices becoming the norm in an increasingly poor world, postal worker Cindy Wagner told friends who think the postal service is "out of date."

But as the factors are also busy delivering everything from magazines to pre-badembled barbecues to washers and dryers combined, Wagner said benefits and unpaid overtime have not been adapted to new demands. Staff.

Wagner said workers injured on the job would not get compensation for the first five days of leave unless they were admitted to the hospital.

"If you're hurt, you'd better be really, because you only have one week left, so I guess you're asking for a leave without pay, unless you're immediately hospitalized. "

Arla Mepham, a 34-year-old Canada Post veteran, said one out of every 12 postal workers had been injured at work in the past two years. A 2015 report on workplace incidents in federal jurisdictions found that postal contractors accounted for 19% of all injuries reported as disabling. .

In 2015, 7.21 postal contractors from Canada Post, a state-owned company, were injured on the job.

Mepham explained that these injuries were mainly due to the need for letter carriers to deliver parcels, which was not the case when she started working for the company.

"Our work has changed from the traditional factor … and at the same time, the rules governing how we do our work have to change," said Mepham.

And since last week, Canada Post has also been accepting an additional legal cannabis parcel from the AGLC. Letter carriers are essentially cannabis keepers because of the AGLC policy that requires online cannabis customers to present a piece of identification before the sentries can market the product.

"Everything you order online goes through our factory and people love shopping online," said Wagner.

She added that some Calgarians might think that the disruption of Canada Post will not impact their online deliveries through courier services like Purolator.

In fact, Canada Post is the majority owner of Purolator. According to Wagner, many parcels picked up by some delivery companies pbad through the Canada Post stop in Calgary.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers announced on social media that the Calgary and Red Deer locals went on strike at 6 pm Wednesday.

Canada Post spokesperson Jon Hamilton said the company had made a "significant offer", including improvements to benefits and a pay raise.

Hamilton said the growing volume of packages has created both "opportunities and challenges" for Canada Post, adding that some Canadians have a misconception, which is Canada Post's position in the e-commerce market.

"People do not always know who delivers their documents online," said Hamilton.

"But the reality is that we deliver the vast majority of online shopping that Canadians do every day … it's the transition that happens in operations and among our employees."

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CUPW represents 50,000 Canada Post employees and began rotating strikes in four cities earlier this week.

The Calgary strike is expected to end at 6 pm Thursday, but Mepham said it was possible for Calgary to undergo another round of disruption if the strike continued.

The City of Calgary announced Monday that it has taken steps to ensure continuity of customer service and business operations in the event of a disruption of the postal service.

Officials said the province has signed an agreement with Canada Post to ensure that the Alberta Family Employment Tax Credit and the Alberta Child Care checks are delivered in the event postal disturbance. Payments should be delivered within a few days of delivery.

Plans are also underway to ensure that checks are distributed for income support, AISH, family support for children with disabilities and people with intellectual disabilities.

Recipients are encouraged to make arrangements for direct deposit in order to avoid late payments.

– With records from the Canadian press

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