Canada postal worker won't handle mail from Japan

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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A Canada Border Services Agency official has refused to handle packages coming from Japan after he was denied the use of a radioactive screening device, a union official says.

The anxiety comes a month after a devastating 9.0.-magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit the coast of Japan, crippling the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The complaint was initially voiced a week-and-a-half ago when a worker at the Gateway postal facility in Mississauga asked to use a radiation detector to screen mail that was arriving from Japan.

“His request was denied by the CBSA,” said Jason McMichael, national vice-president of the Customs and Immigration Union.

The worker — who McMichael declined to identify — was reassigned to other duties while Labour Canada investigates the claims. He hopes a decision will be reached by early this week.

McMichael said he wants Labour Canada to rule in favour of the worker, requiring all postal plants to screen incoming mail from Japan for radiation.

Employees are already trained to operate the devices, he added.

“[The CBSA] is concerned about it slowing things down,” said McMichael. “They’ve really hung their hat on the fact that Health Canada has assured them that there’s no problem.”

Workers from postal facilities in Vancouver and Montreal have also expressed similar concerns, said McMichael, but no one else has asked to be reassigned.