Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers who are concerned about their safety have made numerous complaints and work refusals. There have been numerous serious accidents while delivering mail.

The Union has been meeting with Canada Post Corporation (CPC) in an attempt to find solutions and eliminate the hazards that cause danger to our members, to all workers and to the public. The Union does not intend to allow workers or the public to be put at risk.

The Union has asked that Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers conduct a complete review of all Rural Mail Box (RMB) points of call that receive delivery from Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers. Major problems have been identified with mail delivery to rural mailboxes and the Union wants a review all points of call to ensure that they are safe.

The Union has proposed:

• Review each and every mailbox.
• The review is to be monitored by the Local CUPW Health and Safety Committee Members.
• All Local Joint Health and Safety Committee Members are to be trained once the criteria have been finalized.
• The customer is to be involved in this process to ensure safety and good customer service. This means actually speaking to the customer.
• Training is to occur at the regional and local level, for both CUPW and CPC representatives.
• All rural mailbox delivery that Canada Post has modified is to be reviewed with the new criteria.
• Rural mailbox delivery is to be restored if it is safe to do so.
• Canada Post is to disclose how many rural mailboxes have been affected, what the changes were and why the changes were made.

The Union believes that this review must be completed locally with those individuals who are actually familiar with the conditions.

CUPW first made the proposal for a national review on June 12, 2006.

Canada Post and CUPW are continuing to discuss the union’s proposals. Although there has been significant progress, a formal agreement is not yet in place, which would provide solutions to the problems encountered by our Members and the public. This very serious issue must be dealt with in an expeditious manner.

CUPW does not know how many rural residents will not get their delivery back, but we are confident that there are solutions to the vast majority of problems.

The Union’s primary concern is the safety of members and the public while ensuring that customers receive first-rate postal service.