First homes to lose door-to-door delivery on early list: postal union
Canadian Union of Postal Workers reveals preliminary list for new community mailboxes in Winnipeg
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has released a preliminary list of where community mailboxes will be installed in Winnipeg this summer and fall.
Two parts of northwest Winnipeg, specifically homes whose postal codes start with R2P and R2V will be among the first in the country to switch from door-to-door deliver to community mailboxes in the fall.
Ben Zorn, the CUPW’s local president in Winnipeg, said the union received the addresses as part of a much larger document, and they worked to extract the points.
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“This is the information that Canada Post has provided to the union for the purposes of identifying letter carrier routes so presumably these would be the places,” he said. “What we see the most is that particularly in the older grid neighbourhoods is that they are on side streets along the sides of people’s properties.”
He added many of the boxes are at the end of blocks at cross streets.
Zorn said if the boxes are to be installed by October as planned, he doubts the list would change significantly.
The installation of community boxes has irked community members in Winnipeg’s northwest area. A forum held in May drew a crowd of 200 people raising concerns about everything from safety to litter to access to the boxes for the elderly.
Canada Post’s John Hamilton said the move to boxes is important to maintain postal services across Canada.
“We are working through a lengthy process of converting some residents of Winnipeg from door-to-door delivery to community mailboxes,” said Hamilton. “This is a change that has to be made for some to protect the postal services for all.”
The move to switch from door-to-door deliver to community mailboxes was announced by Canada Post last December as part of a five-point plan.
Hamilton said the locations were selected in part based on feedback from a survey they conducted.
“We understand this is a big change, and we want to do it right,” said Hamilton.
In total, about one third of all Canadians will be affected by the change.