Canada Post expects to begin installing new community mailboxes to replace home delivery next month, but the head of the local postal union doesn’t expect Kamloops to be among the first to convert.
The Crown corporation said this week the new mailboxes won’t come first to urban cores due to the complexity of the change.
Instead, they will be installed where community mailboxes are already nearby.
In Kamloops, about 80 per cent of home delivery remains door-to-door.
Lara Plummer, president of Canadian Postal Workers Union Local 758, said while the union has not been notified, she doesn’t expect changes here any time soon.
Canada Post announced late last year it will phase out urban home delivery in favour of community mailboxes that have been standard since the mid-1980s.
It expects to convert older neighbourhoods over a five-year period.
“I don’t think they’ll come to Kamloops [immediately],” Plummer said.
“I think they’ll roll it out in communities with a lot of community mailboxes.”
The union’s contract doesn’t allow layoffs, so any letter carriers displaced through change must be given other work.
That kind of movement is easier in a larger centre with more senior workers.
Plummer also said the Crown corporation is in the midst of a route restructuring in Kamloops, something it does every few years to reflect localized changes in mail volumes.
That route rebuild itself typically results in mail carriers being reassigned.
“They’re doing it right now and have said they’re not doing community mailboxes during restructuring,” Plummer said, cautioning, however, “they could change their mind.”
The union represents about 200 workers in Kamloops and region.
Elimination of door-to-door delivery is expected to cut the number of letter carriers in half.
