"A supervisor came to me right away and told me I couldn't wear that mask. I really didn't understand, at first I thought it was a joke..."
On the 20th, CTV News reported a slightly absurd incident in which a Canada Post employee was driven home by the company because he was wearing an N95 mask.
In response, Canada Post responded that all employees are required to wear cloth masks or disposable medical surgical masks provided by the company, and if employees choose not to wear them, they will be told to leave the company.
Screenshot of a Canadian CTV News report
It happened to Corey Gallagher, a postman in Winnipeg, Canada's capital of Manitoba, who works for Canada Post, according to CTV News.
On January 17, Gallagher returned to work after a period of rest. On the same day, he wore an N95 mask to work, and as a result, "a supervisor immediately came to me and told me that I couldn't wear that mask."
"I really didn't understand, at first I thought it was a joke," Gallagher said. With this in mind, Gallagher did not change his mask and began to sort out the day's mail. During the sorting process, several supervisors came up to him and asked him if he needed a mask, and then told him that the mask he was wearing now could not be worn.
Gallagher still did not change his mask and continued to work, so after a day, on the 18th, Gallagher said that he continued to wear an N95 mask to work, and was finally told to leave after refusing to wear the mask provided by the company.
Corey Gallagher wears an N95 mask and holds a cloth mask issued by the company in his left hand, courtesy of CTV News
On the day he was driven home, Gallagher was suspended from his post and without pay. But Gallagher said he insisted on wearing N95 masks for a reason. Gallagher said his wife was immunocompromised and that his children were not old enough to be vaccinated. "If I could, I wanted to keep my family safe."
The Winnipeg Liberty report adds more details that Gallagher's wife is pregnant, that the masks his superiors ask him to wear are of worse quality than the N95 masks, and that Gallagher fears that his vulnerable family will be at risk of contracting covid-19.
According to the Winnipeg Liberty, on the 17th, Gallagher's superiors told him that employees must wear white cloth masks or disposable medical surgical masks provided by the company. They also said Gallagher could only wear high-quality masks when working outdoors. Even, a few hours later, they told Gallagher that he could wear another company-provided cloth mask on top of his N95 mask.
After the incident, both CTV News and the Winnipeg Liberty contacted Canada Post. A spokesperson for the company responded that the company follows the recommendations of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), which supports people to wear non-medical or disposable masks with at least two layers of woven fabric and a third layer of filter fabric.
The company also follows a directive from Employment and Social Development Canada that requires employees to wear masks provided by Canada Post to ensure they meet PHC requirements.
"The company fully supports these guidelines and therefore requires all employees to wear masks provided by Canada Post, which can be reusable cloth masks or disposable medical masks," the spokesperson said.
Canada Post also added that in case employees don't get the masks provided by the company, they generally have extra masks. In this case, if the employee is still reluctant to wear the mask provided by the company, they will be told to leave.
Regarding Canada Post's approach, Gallagher said "it's a bit disappointing." He added that N95 masks are not new and have been worn by people across Canada for some time.
Manitoba health officials recently said that given that everyone may be exposed to the mutated new coronavirus Olmiquerong strain, the province has been distributing KN95 masks in liquor markets and casinos so that people can better protect themselves.
However, Canada Post does not seem to notice this change. In this regard, the president of the Canada Postal Workers Union said that Canada Post should update the relevant regulations as soon as possible, and they hope that the company can provide high-quality masks in the future, or allow employees to bring their own masks.
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