Members of the CUPW Vancouver Local:
Summer is upon us and we are being reminded by our employer to watch for dogs, wear sunscreen and drink lots of water, as Canada Post is concerned for our health and safety. These are all good recommendations to be sure, and we are confident that CUPW members are knowledgeable and intelligent, and possess the good judgement to employ these common sense measures to ensure their optimal health, safety, and well-being.
It is typical of Canada Post to not think of what they can do for us, as employees, to ensure that our health and safety is protected while at work, but to put the responsibility for health and safety onto us, and abdicate their own responsibilities.
In an April 2010 report published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Canada Post is referred to as being “perhaps the worst example of inaction on workplace injuries.” According to this report, postal workers are “massively overrepresented” in Canadian injury statistics Among full-time equivalent federal jurisdiction workers, Canada Post employees represent only 6%; however, Canada Post employees “make up almost 20% of disabling injuries” among federal jurisdiction workers.
The author of the report states that “Canada Post has by far the worst overrepresentation of disabling injuries.” Contrary to the falsehoods we are told about decreasing injury rates, “the high DIIR (disabling injury incidence rate) at Canada Post appears to be continuing year after year.”
Even more reprehensible than these misrepresentations in our injury rates is the fact that Canada Post refuses to sign Assurances of Voluntary Compliance (AVC) for health and safety violations. Labour Affairs Officers (LAOS) do not have adequate support from Human Resources Development Canada (HRSDC) to force compliance from Canada Post and hold them accountable for ensuring workplace safety. It is disheartening to hear the following:
Indeed, allowing for more leeway for employers is at the heart of many of the recent HRSDC directives to LAOS. In the case of Canada Post, that additional leeway has merely allowed serious workplace safety issues to continue unabated.
What do we do when faced with the information that our employer is not as committed to our health and safety as they claim to be, and the government bodies that supposedly exist to ensure that Canada Post is accountable are largely ineffectual?
Do we give up, and accept the fact that we are just statistics; accidents waiting to happen? We can not sacrifice ourselves and our lives to Canada Post. We owe it to ourselves and the people who care for us to advocate for our own health, safety and well-being, 
and that of those around us, because there is more to any life than simply making a living.
We must use the tools we have available to us, and use them to the fullest extent. In our workplaces, we have the Local Joint Health and Safety Committee (LJHSC), commonly referred to as the “LJOSH” Committee. This is the avenue we need to take in order to bring awareness to health and safety concerns, and attempt to hold Canada Post accountable for ensuring that the health and safety of all employees is protected.
The right of refusal under Article 33.13 provides recourse in cases where employees find themselves in situations of immediate danger. Health and safety concerns that do not require immediate action should first be brought to the attention of a supervisor and a union representative. If the issue can not be resolved at this level, it can then be referred to the LJHS Committee. If the Committee is unable to resolve the issue, then it is escalated to the next level for review at a regional consultation. It the issue is still not resolved at this level it is then referred to the National Joint Health and Safety Committee.
If the internal resolution process has been followed and the issue is still outstanding, the matter can be referred to a Health and Safety Officer with HRSDC, who will then conduct an investigation. We know this is not a perfect system, but we need to continue to go this route, and use whatever other means available to us to draw attention to the failures we see within this system. Postal workers have had great success throughout the years at drawing public attention to our causes, and when it comes to a matter such as our own health and safety, we are our strongest advocates.
Because Canada Post is mandated under the Canada Labour Code to establish the workplace health and safety committees, which must operate under guidelines set out in the Code, it gives CUPW members one of the most valuable tools we have to ensure that our health and safety concerns are addressed. We must utilize our Committees to the fullest extent.
Please report any health and safety concerns that are not being addressed by the management team in your workplace to a CUPW representative on your LJHS Committee. The names of your CUPW representatives should be listed on your health and safety bulletin board, and if they are not, put in a request to management that the Committee members be clearly identified.
If you are interested in becoming a CUPW representative on your Local Joint Health and Safety Committee, please contact the Union Hall.
Take care and be safe,
Wendy Lund
Health and Safety Director
[email protected]
Source:
Macdonald, David. “Success is No Accident: Declining Workplace Safety Among Federal Jurisdiction Employers.” Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. April, 2010.
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