The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has announced that its workers in three cities are on strike, effective 6:00 p.m. MT Wednesday, as the union's 24-hour rotating strikes continue.
October 24, 2018 – The following CUPW locals are on strike: Toronto (ON), Kelowna (BC), and Calgary (AB) @ 6pm MT - Members should contact their local for more information [https://t.co/gMNdGgYrtg] #canlab #negos2018 pic.twitter.com/tMeCwvwouV
— cupw (@cupw) October 24, 2018
“We’re out here on strike trying to get Canada Post to come to work at the negotiating table to help us settle a collective agreement,” explained Anna Beale, executive vice-president of the Calgary local of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. “We’ve been at this for ten months, they won’t move or they move on comparatively minor issues, but the ones that we desperately need to get settled they just don’t want to talk about.”
The Calgary local has approximately 2,100 members and the Toronto local is roughly 9,000 members. The number of local members in Kelowna has not been confirmed.
Beale says she appreciates the fact Canadians entrust Canada Post with their pacels and susepcts that the rotating strikes will not tarnish the crown company's reputation. "There are other deliver companies but people come back to Canada Post because they know it’s reliable, they know it provides good service, they recognize the brand and they recognize the letter carriers.”
On Monday morning, workers in Halifax, Windsor, Edmonton and Victoria walked off the job for 24 hours. The job action follow more than ten months of negotiations between the union and Canada Post regarding potential pay increases and addressing increased workloads that have resulted from online shopping.
"We were the number one delivery company in Canada last year and yet, with the increase in the number of parcels, they have done nothing to resolve the extra work that goes on the letter carriers who deliver those parcels,” said Beale. “As a result, they’re working 10 or 12 hours a day.”
“We’re expecting it to be quite a while. We’re not willing to take any concessions. We want to be heard and we want to be treated fairly and we want what we deserve as postal workers, it’s not an easy job, not inside and not outside,” said postal clerk, Suzie Moore.
Officials with Canada Post confirm all mail and parcels will not be delivered or picked up in the three cities during the strike activity but regular mail service will continue in all other locations across the country.
The strikes in Calgary, Toronto and Kelowna are scheduled to end Thursday at 6:00 p.m. MT.
