Hello, this is Jan Simpson, CUPW national President.
I hope you and your families are staying safe and well.
Postal workers have always played a crucial role in delivering the necessities of life to people’s homes and providing important services in our communities. This work, in these unprecedented times, while increasingly important in getting our communities through the crisis, is also increasingly stressful for all workers on the front lines.
It is important for you to know that your union has been closely monitoring developments since January and getting Canada Post and our other employers to implement health and safety measures in all aspects of their operations. We aim to communicate all changes and measures to you as soon as the employer’s position is known to us.
Public social distancing practices, hand washing, avoiding face touching and coughing and sneezing into your sleeve are the best ways to protect yourself and prevent spreading the virus to others
By continuing our very important work, we are doing our part in helping our society getting through this crisis and helping to flatten the curve of infection.
Nobody prepared us for this. We’re dealing with our own anxiety, with an unsettled public, in quickly-changing conditions, and we’ve been continuing the work that we’re proud to do and we wish to thank every single one of you for this.
But we have to take care of our communities our families, and each other. Please stand together in this stressful time. Help a co-worker or a neighbour if you can do it safely. Working collectively to pressure management and make our workplace safer is a great way to channel your worries and concerns into action. It’s in our hands: support each other, flatten the curve, and save lives!
Share what initiatives your Local and LJHSC have developed to protect our members and the public. Share your good ideas with your stewards, with your health and safety representatives, and with national office through our social channels and email.
You can get our best information and resources, updated daily, at our coronavirus page on cupw.ca
We’re working on opening up more lines of communication. Please stay in touch at @cupw on twitter, at our facebook page, and sign up for the weekly eDigest when you’re at our website.
Together, we’ll find and implement the best ways to protect ourselves and the people we serve. Solidarity!