Now there are five (5) letter carrier depots implemented with mechanized sequencing in Winnipeg – Charleswood, Transcona, and Depots C, M, and J.  Four of these are in the new Southwest Depot facility, and one (Transcona) is in the Northeast Depot.

On November 22, 2010, letter carriers at the new Southwest Depot walked off the job because of health and safety issues with their new routes and with the new work methods imposed by the employer.

Problems with New Work Methods

The new multiple bundle delivery method, the lack of a viable work method or time values for delivering householders, and insufficient relief staff to cover routes are some of the main problems that letter carriers in Winnipeg have had to deal with after the Modern Post restructures.

But, aside from these “big picture” problems, why are the routes so bad in Winnipeg?

The Winnipeg CUPW Local has many answers to that question.  Their Union observers have worked very hard and developed long lists of problems with the routes.  However, CUPW’s observers have been obstructed at every turn by Canada Post (CPC).

Obstruction of Union Observers by CPC

CPC has refused to give the Union important information that CUPW needs to make sure that the routes are properly structured.  The Corporation also refuses to give the Union a copy of the Georoute software that is used to structure the routes.  Without the software, and without some of the reports that break the route evaluation down, it is very hard for the observers to do their jobs.

Some of the information not received:

• The 071 and 080 forms, which show how the route is laid out and allow the observer and the letter carrier to follow the line of travel were not provided until long after the restructure was finished.
• Updated 038 forms, which show each point of call and all of the walking distances on the route were not given to the Union.
• 072, 103, 108, 098, and special allowance forms were not provided until it was too late to verify the details of the new routes

Midnight Restructuring?

In some cases, the employer went so far as to “white out” some of the information on forms given to the Union.  In other cases, adjustments were made by “someone in Ottawa” overnight.  The Route Measurement Officers (RMOs) were not able to explain why some of the data was changed overnight.

Major Problems with LC Routes

The CUPW were able to identify some significant problems:

• Transportation time to, from, and within routes was not done according to the LCRMS Manual.
• There are too many loops done from the truck at a single stop.
• Some RMOs placed the vehicle at the corner of an intersection in Georoute, even though it is illegal to park closer than 9 metres from the corner.  No pacing was provided for the extra distance.
• Time for dropping items at RPOs was not adequate.
• The cases were not set up correctly on some routes, increasing the sortation time.
• The Ford Transit Connect vehicles are too small for some routes that have them.
• Loading and unloading time is not adequate for most routes.
• Carriers are still doing “out for delivery” scans because some items are not automatically loaded on the PDT during sortation.  Carriers were told that they would just have to verify the number of items on the PDT.

Canada Post’s attitude is completely unacceptable.  Mechanized sequencing of letter mail is a major change in the way that letter carrier work is done.  This alone has resulted in the loss of many letter carrier and MSC jobs.  Instead of looking at possible health and safety problems with their proposed work methods and the extra work caused by these methods, CPC has tried to squeeze even more time out of the routes by not applying the LCRMS properly.

Instead of trying to ease the transition to mechanized sequencing, they have resorted to stonewalling CUPW by refusing to provide needed information. 

Walkout Hardly Surprising

The result was badly restructured routes, not enough information for letter carriers to bid properly on the new routes, and hours and hours of overtime.

Many of the above issues have been grieved by the Union, or will be.  But it is not surprising that Winnipeg letter carriers are angry – they have every right to be.

It is not surprising that they were angry enough to walk off the job because of concerns over their health and safety.

CPC has no respect for senior employees and is creating a crisis, hoping that they will retire early.

After spending the majority of our lives working for Canada Post this is the thanks we get -- NO RESPECT.