Evidence of meeting #13 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was workers.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:05 p.m.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Thanks. I don't know if I need a full five minutes.
Thanks for appearing today, Ms. Simpson.
I have a couple of quick questions. You said there were 67 identified workers with COVID. Did I hear that right?
12:05 p.m.
National President, Canadian Union of Postal Workers
There have been 73 in total throughout Canada Post.
12:05 p.m.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Do you know how many are traceable to actual work sites, or are they possibly from households or other contacts? Do you know?
12:10 p.m.
National President, Canadian Union of Postal Workers
We've been advised that all the cases are from outside, from households, and not from within Canada Post.
12:10 p.m.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Okay, they are not from within, so they have been providing a safe work environment and have adjusted for COVID if none of it has been contracted at work. That is wonderful news.
You did mention, though, that it's on the rise. When you say the infection is on the rise with workers, was it 50 last week? Can you give me an idea what you mean by “on the rise”?
12:10 p.m.
National President, Canadian Union of Postal Workers
It has increased throughout time. At first we had zero infections, of course—
12:10 p.m.
National President, Canadian Union of Postal Workers
—then we had three or four. Then it went to 53, then 73, so it has been rising steadily throughout the time since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared.
12:10 p.m.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Okay, but none was from work.
When you talk about PPE, is that mostly required for...? We have a large distribution plant in west Edmonton in my riding. Is it mostly for the inside workers that you are looking for the PPE?
Just walk me through where it is best deployed. Is it inside or for the door-to-door gentlemen? Is it for ladies as well? Is it for the Purolator workers? Where are you trying to get it to, or where is it best focused? Could you just fill me in?
12:10 p.m.
National President, Canadian Union of Postal Workers
We want PPE for all the CUPW members—those at retail counters, those working inside, the letter carriers who are outside delivering mail door to door as well as to the community mailboxes. It's anybody—
12:10 p.m.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Is there a priority? Is it the inside workers who would be top priority, or is it just across the board? I'm thinking risk-wise. Who do you think has the highest—
12:10 p.m.
National President, Canadian Union of Postal Workers
Everybody is at risk of COVID-19, because we don't know where you can catch it or how you can catch it, so everybody should be supplied with PPE.
12:10 p.m.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
That's a fair answer. I'm just trying to educate myself.
Those are all the questions I have. Thanks very much.
12:10 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tom Lukiwski
Thank you very much.
We'll now go to Mr. Kusmierczyk for five minutes.
12:10 p.m.
Liberal
Irek Kusmierczyk Liberal Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
Thank you very much, Chair.
Thank you very much, Ms. Simpson, for your testimony.
I just wanted to say thank you for the tremendous and dedicated work of our postal workers, especially during these trying times. Not only do they deliver mail and parcels, but they also deliver that invaluable social connection and that social contact as well, and I know that for a lot of communities it provides reassurance and also provides an opportunity for a check-in for some of the seniors and folks who are more vulnerable. I just want to say thank you to all your members for all their hard work through these trying times.
I want to get a sense of the measures that have been taken to protect employees, whether at processing stations or whether, for example, door to door. What are some of the measures that have been taken to protect employees during this period?
12:10 p.m.
National President, Canadian Union of Postal Workers
As postal workers, we really care about our jobs. As you know, we have been over two years in both the bargaining units without a new collective agreement in place, and they are still going to work every day, making sure the economy is still flowing and making sure that the public can also self-isolate.
We thank you for your appreciation, but we really want a collective agreement put in place for these proud workers.
To the second part of your question, we have what we call local joint health and safety committees and a national joint health and safety committee. We've been speaking with Canada Post on a regular basis, but we need to also ensure that deep cleaning occurs on a regular basis, as well as receiving the PPE I spoke about earlier, and we would also ask the public, for example, to keep a distance from our members who are delivering mail to homes, to wipe down mailboxes and leave mailboxes and community mailboxes open as well.
We've also asked for staggered shifts to occur at the plant so that we can have social distancing within the four walls of the facilities and at the retail counters. Up until Tuesday there have been different hours, and now they have gone back to regular hours. That arrangement would have given the workers time to clean their workspaces a bit better.
12:10 p.m.
Liberal
Irek Kusmierczyk Liberal Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
Thank you very much for that.
Are there still signatures required, such as on parcels when they're being delivered, or are there other measures that were introduced for employees who are delivering the mail?
12:10 p.m.
National President, Canadian Union of Postal Workers
Some of the measures have been modified through consultation with the union to help us not to have to be in such close contact with the public as we deliver the mail through door-to-door delivery as well as to the community mailboxes. Pickup is happening now at the retail counters, which, as I mentioned earlier, have gone back to their regular hours of operation, so we have to look at trying to get better measures in place.
We have the Plexiglas up right now. We need to get a bit of a thicker one, because we feel that the one that was put up originally is not really enough for our workers at the front counter to feel safe, and possibly get face shields and face masks for them. We need hand sanitizers and wipes to be made available and we need to stagger the number of people who come into the store at the same time.
12:15 p.m.
Liberal
Irek Kusmierczyk Liberal Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
Ms. Simpson, I know you've been dealing with two big issues simultaneously: One is that there has been a significant increase in the number of parcels that are being delivered, and at the same time you're dealing with these COVID restrictions and COVID safety measures that are being put in place.
Can you talk about the impact of increased parcel volumes, increased demand, plus the restrictions? What impact is that having on employees and perhaps delivery times?
12:15 p.m.
National President, Canadian Union of Postal Workers
As we discussed during negotiations, health and safety have always been a concern for the workers. Now, with the increase in volumes, they're almost like Christmas volumes, and even beyond.
Unfortunately, with COVID-19, we haven't been able to hire many temporary workers, because they need to be trained. A lot of temporary workers have been temporary workers for years, and they need to be made permanent, in either full-time or part-time positions, to help alleviate some of the stress on the workers who are doing the extra overtime. People need breaks on the weekends as well, to try to rejuvenate themselves for the rest of the work week.
12:15 p.m.
Liberal
Irek Kusmierczyk Liberal Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
I understand.
I know that some of your workers are couriers, drivers, vehicle mechanics and warehouse workers for other private sector companies as well, and not just for Canada Post. Can you talk a bit about what safety measures are in place for those employees and how they compare to the safety measures for Canada Post and Purolator employees?
12:15 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tom Lukiwski
Ms. Simpson, unfortunately we're out of time, but as I have advised other witnesses before on this committee, if you could provide a comprehensive answer to Mr. Kusmierczyk's question in writing to our clerk as soon as possible, that would be greatly appreciated.
We'll now go to Madame Vignola.
You have five minutes.
12:15 p.m.
Bloc
Julie Vignola Bloc Beauport—Limoilou, QC
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Ms. Simpson. I have some questions for you too, of course.
In terms of the safety rules, I know that your employees are serious. They want to ensure not only that they are safe themselves, but that their families and customers are safe as well.
Are the rules and the measures applied absolutely everywhere, even in private sector companies, by which I mean even in pharmacies?