Coming Soon to a Plant Near You!

Canada Post (CPC) has officially announced that Toshiba has been awarded the contract to provide 95 new Multiline Optical Character Readers (MLOCRs) and 30 Bar Code Sorters (BCSs) in all major plants starting in the new Winnipeg plant as early as January 2010.

Canada Post has also started to provide the union with the first three 29.03 (b) notices for Winnipeg, Montreal and Toronto with details on the implementation of various aspects of the Modern Post new technologies and the effects these changes will have on workers. In the case of Toronto, we have the first evidence of the negative impact this new technology and the proposed new processes will have on Group 1 jobs.

The New Equipment

CPC reported that they will be relying more heavily on two-tier MLOCRS. The total numbers of BCSs will be reduced to 30 (from 76 currently) .The old BCS machines were ergonomically problematic for workers and the union will ensure that lessons learnt will be applied to the new BCS machines.

CUPW learned that the deployment of this new equipment will occur in many waves starting with Winnipeg (early 2010), then Toronto (South Central), Montréal, Hamilton (second quarter of 2010); followed by Vancouver, Halifax and Edmonton shortly thereafter (third quarter 2010).

In addition, CPC is undertaking a number of pilot projects such as the mechanized admail collation pilot in Vancouver and pilots testing the new cart and container prototypes in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.

A Union Response to New Postal Technology

CUPW has put the corporation on notice that we have many demands with respect to the modernization of postal facilities, the new equipment and the new work processes and that we want to begin negotiations on these demands immediately.

CUPW has also provided CPC with a comprehensive list of health and safety concerns that they are obliged to respond to. Every pilot, every prototype, every new work process must include the active participation and input of both the national and local health and safety committees.

As the Strategic Review Committee recently stated in their Final report:

“Canada Post has significantly under-invested in its infrastructure, both in terms of dealing with obsolescence issues and keeping its plant and equipment current.”

CUPW agrees with this statement but would add that any modernization scheme developed by the corporation must include benefits for postal workers, benefits for the public and benefits to postal services

The struggle continues.