Under-reported workplace accidents at Canada Post?

While negotiations continue between Canada Post and its striking employees, the union accuses management of seeking, by various means, to prevent workers from reporting their work accidents for years.

According to the information we were able to collect, supervisors would, for example, encourage these employees to use their insurance rather than the CNESST in contravention of their rights or would seek to assign them to tasks presented as lighter.

These practices, observed on the ground by several workers as well as by their union, were confirmed to us by a recently retired manager from Canada Post. He affirms that there is a clear desire from senior management to reduce the number of reported work accidents.

The state company defends itself and says it is safety of its staff its highest priority. Canada Post, as a federal employer, has a legal obligation to report all accidents that occur in the workplace.

Dozens of cases, according to CUPW

The Union of Postal Workers (STTP), which represents 55,000 workers in the country, maintains that cases of unreported work accidents – to the CNESST in Quebec or to the equivalent in other provinces – number by the dozen in Canada.

For example, at the local section of the Montreal union, 40 grievances on this subject have been filed since 2021, including one which is 884 pages long and covers several files. The most recent grievance was filed in July.

In Scarborough, Ontario, one of the largest postal processing centers in the country, union leaders say they are notified of one case per week.

CUPW filed a national grievance in 2021 to denounce these ways of doing things, a dispute which has still not been resolved. An arbitrator must rule on this matter shortly.

However, the subject does not appear in the current negotiations because, according to the union, it concerns poor management practices and we cannot negotiate adherence to lawhe said in a statement.

Workers testify

After experiencing pain in a limb, Julie* consults a doctor, who confirms that it is linked to her work as a postwoman. She talks to her supervisor about it, in order to complete the appropriate documents. The latter consults his manager, who will finally contact her.

She is amazed.

He tells me that I should go to insurance rather than to CNESST, because there is a good chance that it will not be covered. And this, without even knowing the evil that afflicted meshe said. But Julie knows that it is illegal if she places herself under the coverage of her insurance when her injury is a work accident.

I feel completely wronged, I feel let down by my employershe explains. Canada Post emphasizes security, with many posters in its offices, she says, but it’s a big lie.

It’s not normal, in 2024, for a worker to be afraid to report an accident to the CNESST, for his employer to gag him. This has to stop.

At Canada Post, it is the managers or supervisors who have in their possession the forms to report a work accident to the CNESST, even if it is up to doctors alone to complete them.

What particularly worries the union is that when an accident is not reported, the worker risks not being able to receive longer-term treatment, which could cause permanent after-effects or injuries.

Accompanied by a colleague on her mail carrier route, Louise* suffers an accident during a work shift. She sees a doctor, who confirms that it is indeed a work accident. A supervisor repeatedly offers her a position where her tasks will be reduced if she does not report her accident.

The worker says she experienced the situation as harassment. Work accidents, they don’t want itshe said, speaking of managers. They will do everything to prevent you from reporting.

Louise says she gave in and did not report her work accident. She did lighter work for two months before returning to her regular position.

These employees testified anonymously, for fear of losing their jobs if they were identified. Moreover, the majority of people we spoke to did not want to be named, for fear of reprisals from Canada Post.

And watchword

A source familiar with the matter confirms that there is a watchword coming from senior management to reduce workplace accident reports since around 2021, with the aim of reducing costs.

It’s because work accidents cost Canada Post a fortune.she says.

The directive was regularly discussed in executive meetings. After the slogan, officially declared work accidents were ten times fewer in certain regions, according to this source.

This former manager maintains that senior managers of the state corporation are aware of the tactics used by their subordinates to artificially reduce the number of workplace accidents and know that there may be consequences for the long-term health of workers.

Nothing can be done without it being approved abovecomments this source.

The subject of work accidents came up again in the parliamentary committee. During her appearance at the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates on April 15, CUPW President Jan Simpson denounced the actions of Canada Post.

The workers are discouraged and afraid.

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In an interview, Jan Simpson clarifies her thoughts. They put pressure on workers so that they do not report work accidentsshe said. The president of CUPW says she raised the problem with Canada Post management and the minister responsible for the state corporation, Jean-Yves Duclos.

Canada Post’s response

By email, Canada Post denies these allegations and affirms that it fully respects personnel safety procedures and laws relating to workplace practices.

A spokesperson specifies that in recent years, in collaboration with the unions, we placed particular emphasis on measures aimed at preventing incidents related to health and safety in the workplace.

It is essential that all staff report all instances of injuries or hazards at work, with no issue being seen as too minor. When incidents occur, we take them seriously and intervene in all caseswe can read in the Canada Post statement.

The state-owned company adds that it relies on reports from its staff to guarantee the safety of people in their workplace.

During the annual public meeting of the Crown corporation, the head of personnel and safety, Susan Margles, was pleased that, for a fifth year in a row, the number of injuries had decreased.

In the office of the Minister responsible for Posts, Jean-Yves Duclos, no comment was made on the subject. For its part, the Association of Postal Officers of Canada, which represents supervisors across the country, did not want to comment on the matter.

What the law says

The practices described by many union members as well as by a Canada Post executive, although proven, are not legal, confirms Dalia Gesualdi-Fecteau, professor at the University of Montreal and specialist in labor law. Even just suggesting, for an employer, not to report an accident contravenes the law, she specifies.

The Canada Labor Code provides that an employer who becomes aware of a work accident must report to a federal department, following different deadlines depending on the seriousness of the accident.

Without commenting on the specific case of Canada Post, Dalia Gesualdi-Fecteau affirms that federal employers have a double obligation. An obligation to allow access to the right, on the one hand, an obligation to report, to declare a work accident, on the other handshe says.

The employer is responsible in some way for establishing a culture of reporting.

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Accidents that are not handled properly can have short, medium and long-term consequences depending on the nature of the injuries, adds the labor law specialist.

Under-reported accidents?

Under-reported workplace accidents are widespread enough to have been studied. This is particularly the case at the Institute for Work and Health, an Ontario organization which has produced reports on the subject.

According to its director Peter Smith, the scientific data is clear: accidents that occur in the workplace are under-reported, at percentages which vary between 30% and 80% depending on the study.

According to Peter Smith, we would benefit from paying more attention to workplace accidents. We often hear about catastrophic things, but every day, people get injured or become ill in the workplace, he says. It’s a huge cost. Not just for workers, but also for their families, their communities, for employers.

*The names of the workers have been changed to protect their identities.