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At Canada Post, the Customer is Always Right…
A recent arbitration hearing in Penticton has offered an unsightly glimpse of Canada Post’s labour relations philosophy. On May 7, 2009, a Penticton Letter Carrier was terminated following a dispute over the delivery of a single Dell Canada business flyer. Pat Trainor, a Relief Letter Carrier who has  worked at Canada Post since 2001, was discharged on the grounds that he “failed to deliver” the flyer and had thereby “damaged Canada Post’s reputation as a reliable service provider”.
On April 27, 2009, the Grievor had brought back three surplus flyers after completing his deliveries, resulting in an interrogation at the hands of his supervisors. He explained that he had completed his deliveries but had not delivered to three vacancies (Canada Post policy does not require the delivery of flyers to vacant homes and businesses). Despite the Grievor’s explanations, his supervisors believed that the Grievor had not delivered the flyer to the address of a hardwood store. Several days after the fact, Darren Smith, a Penticton supervisor, approached the customer in question in his hardwood store during business hours and requested production of the Dell flyer.
Unsurprisingly, the customer had not maintained a journal of his incoming flyers. The customer was understandably unwilling to shut down his business operations in order to conduct a search for the flyer but allowed Smith to forage through his garbage container. Despite his best efforts, Smith was unable to locate the flyer. In fortuitous fashion, the Dell flyer was subsequently discovered in the customer’s vehicle. The customer had used the flyer as a notepad to record a telephone number of a business contact.
After discovering the flyer, the customer wrote a statement to the effect that he was unable to produce the flyer in the short period of time that the post office supervisor was in his store but had later found it on the seat of his vehicle. He also provided the Grievor with the flyer in question, adorned with his handwriting!
In the meantime, Canada Post proceeded with the Grievor’s discharge on the grounds that he had not delivered the flyer to the customer at the hardwood store.
Despite being made aware of the discovery of the flyer and the confirmation of its delivery, Canada Post refused to rescind the Grievor’s discharge. In a June 18, 2009 conversation with a representative of Service Canada, Penticton Superintendent Martha Greger reportedly advised that “she was aware of the letter obtained from the business in question but it was dismissed as it was obtained well after the fact”.
On February 10, 2010, the matter was scheduled for arbitration in Penticton. Immediately into the commencement of the hearing, Canada Post claimed that the Grievor had been dishonest. CPC further claimed that the customer’s representations were “in conflict” with the Corporation’s evidence. In response, the Union maintained that the Grievor had been consistently honest and noted that the customer had absolutely nothing to gain by concocting a story regarding his receipt of the Dell flyer. In short order, the matter was settled by the intervention of the arbitrator.
As a result, the Grievor was reinstated to his employment. Under the terms of the Order, the Grievor is to be credited with lost vacation and sick leave benefits, the 2009 CTI payment, missed overtime opportunities, missed householder premiums, missed boot and glove allowance, and a financial settlement in an amount satisfactory to both the Grievor and the Union.
In solidarity,
Ken Mooney
Regional Grievance Officer
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June 23, 2008, the Grievor was discharged by Canada Post on the grounds of delay of mail, but that discharge was subsequently overturned by an arbitration award dated June 19, 2009. In that award, Arbitrator Joan Gordon substituted a five day suspension in place of discharge. As a result of that award, the Grievor was entitled to approximately one year of lost wages and benefits.
