Canada Post is processing Christmastime levels of packages while at the same time dealing with safety measures to keep workers socially distanced and working safely.
“Our numbers of parcels are skyrocketing to the same kind of volumes we would processing and delivering around Christmas holiday period. So the numbers are fantastic," said Jeff Callaghan, national director for the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.
At the same time, the union has been working closely with Canada Post to ensure all workers have adequate personal protective equipment and clean, safe workplaces.
For letter carrier depots, that means staggered shift starts, to reduce the number of workers in the facility at one time. At processing plants, it means re-distributing workers – moving some from a busy shift to less occupied shifts so there is adequate space between workers.
Retail outlets have plexiglass dividers at the service counters.
“Postal workers continue to go to work every day to help deliver products that Canadians are looking for — primarily ordering online. They’re doing so under very trying conditions,” said Callaghan.
“Our workers have the same concerns as everyone else about the virus. They’re apprehensive."
Local health and safety representatives are pressing for extra cleaning at facilities as well as ensuring adequate PPE and social distancing.
Canada Post is listening to the union’s concerns and trying to act on them, “for the most part,” said Callaghan.
RURAL,URBAN DIVIDE
The surge of package mail has exacerbated a festering issue for some mail carriers - weekend deliveries.
Rural and suburban mail carriers are paid by the package, with no overtime compensation. An urban carrier earns regular wages plus overtime for working the weekend.
If a rural carrier chose not to work the weekend, he or she would have three extra days of parcels sitting there to deliver, said Jeff Callaghan, national director for the Canadian Union for Postal Workers.
The shopping surge almost forces rural staff to work on the weekends to keep the volumes of parcels manageable, he said.
“About 70 per cent of those workers are women, Canada Post is not offering them any overtime rates at all,” said Callaghan.
