The introduction of mechanized sequencing of letters, greater motorization and the introduction of new mail processing equipment will completely transform the work of postal workers in Canada. The Union will have to be very vigilant to ensure that these massive changes do not adversely impact on postal workers.

That was the message from Pam Donato, President of the Minneapolis Branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers when she addressed a special information meeting of the CUPW Winnipeg Local to discuss the potential impact of CPC’s modernization program.

Letter Carriers: Job Loss and Injuries:

Sister Donato was a letter carrier in Minneapolis when the United States Postal Service (USPS) introduced Delivery Point Sequencing (DPS) in the 1990’s. She said that at the beginning the success rate of the machines was very low with only about 30% of the letters successfully sequenced to the line of delivery.

At that time letter carriers were allowed to sort the mail that had been machine sequenced.  Most letter carriers believed that the equipment would never be successful in sequencing the mail.

But within a few years the success rate of the equipment was over 90% and letter carriers were told to stop sorting the mail that had been machine sequenced and only sort their flats and the remaining 10 percent of the letters. Now they pick up the sequenced mail in trays and load them directly to their vehicles.

The average letter carrier lost between one and two hours of sortation time and had an extra hour of delivery time added to their route.

Over two hundred letter carrier jobs were eliminated in Minneapolis and the injury rate of letter carriers increased as a direct result of the difficulties involved in handling an additional bundle of mail.

Inadequate Staffing

While USPS management was quick to eliminate letter carrier’s sortation time they were unwilling to recognize the significant amount of additional time required for letter carriers to deliver sequenced letters and to process the mis-sorts back in the office at the end of the day. While management cut jobs the remaining letter carriers found that they could not complete their routes in 8 hours.

The result has been continuous overtime for letter carriers. According to Pam Donato it is not uncommon for letter carriers in Minneapolis to work 50 to 60 hours per week. Under the NALC collective agreement letter carriers are prohibited from working more than 60 hours during a week. The local union has been successful in getting management to agree to sit on a local union-management committee to examine the additional in-office time at end of day and extra time on the street caused as a result of mechanized sequencing.

Big Brother is Watching: Always

With the system built on overburdening and overtime management, American post office management has spared no effort to ensure that they can constantly monitor the work patterns of letter carriers and discipline workers who do not meet performance standards.

On each letter carrier route management has installed between 7 and 13 barcodes on the inside lid of residential letter boxes. Carriers are expected to scan these barcodes so that management can determine when they delivered to each of these addresses. Also, the scanners provided to letter carriers are equipped with GPS devices so that management has the ability to tell where a letter carrier is at any time during their shift. The United States Postal Service (USPS) is not currently using the GPS capacity in the scanners.

Many Considerations for CUPW

Sister Donato’s presentation illustrated the need for CUPW to be involved in every aspect of CPC’s automation program. We must ensure that health and safety studies are conducted before equipment is purchased and work methods are changed. We need to be fully informed as early as possible of any changes that CPC management is considering that will impact CUPW members.

In addition to eliminating all adverse effects of these changes we must also ensure that postal workers and the public share in the benefits that new investment can bring.

Some Questions Answered

As previously reported, CUPW had provided CPC management with a list of 76 questions concerning the modernization program. We have now received some answers. For most of the questions, management says they do not yet have answers. However they did inform us that there are no planned equipment changes for Kitchener, Thunder Bay and Barrie and that they plan to purchase an additional 4,500 vehicles and have looked to the United States, Norway, Denmark, France and Austria for examples of a modern post.

Winnipeg Plant Information

In the near future we hope to be able to provide more information on management’s plans for the new Winnipeg Mail Processing Plant.