PUROLATOR COVID DECISION MEANS WORKERS TO BE COMPENSATED
Purolator “unjustly terminated employment”
Road Warrior News has obtained two memos from Teamsters Local Union Number 31, the British Columbia local which spearheaded the third successful grievance against Purolator Inc.
Purolator, which is owned 91 per cent by the federal government of Canada through Canada Post, suspended and/or terminated hundreds of employees and owner/operator contractors when they declined to disclose their COVID-19 vaccination status.
After having fought the grievances in Ontario and Quebec, it appears Purolator may be out of options after the December 14th decision in British Columbia, which calls for reinstatement and compensation for employees and owner/operators who were terminated during the COVID period. The full, 196-page arbitrator’s decision is expected to be posted on December 18th.
“It is a great, great feeling to be vindicated, to be acknowledged by the arbitrator,” says one Purolator employee who requested anonymity. “So many of us were treated very unfairly, so the money will be great, yes – when we get it, it won’t be instant – but having our treatment acknowledged as wrong is the most important thing.”
The employee goes on to note that they personally know Purolator workers who lost their homes and in some cases their marriages: “The guy came home to tell his wife he’d been laid off, and she said, ‘Well, if you can’t support us, I’m leaving’ – she took their child and left.”
To make such situations even worse, these employees lost their benefits including mental health benefits, “so just when that guy needs to talk to a counsellor the most, he can’t. He can’t afford it, and he has no benefits. Never, never did I ever expect to see the government of our country treat its own employees with such cruelty. Never.”
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