The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) launched its rotating strike action early Saturday morning, with workers in four communities across the country walking off the job.
According to to an email from CUPW, strikes are currently underway in:
- St. Anthony, N.L.
- Timmins, Ont.
- Fort St. John, B.C.
- Dawson Creek, B.C.
The rotating strikes follow CUPW’s decision to scale back from a nationwide walkout and instead target select locations.
The union says this approach is meant to apply pressure on Canada Post while allowing some mail and parcel delivery to continue.
CUPW national president Jan Simpson issued a release early this morning saying that, “We could not stand by as the Government announced its plans to allow Canada Post to gut our postal service and slash thousands of our jobs. Contract after contract, this employer has sought to chip away at postal services, worker rights and good jobs.”
“We will continue our fight for strong public services, good jobs, and a sustainable public post office for all Canadians,” he added.
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CUPW has been without a contract for nearly two years. The union says it rejected Canada Post’s latest offer by a wide margin, calling it an attack on job security, working conditions and public service.
The four communities subject to the strike actions represent the first phase of rotating walkouts. CUPW says more locals will be added in the coming days, and each will be notified shortly before their strike action begins.
Canada Post said in a release that they urge the CUPW to return to the bargaining table to reach new collective agreements.
“The company is waiting to hear back from the union on its latest offers on October 3,” the release read.”The need to align the business to the current needs of the country, to reduce the dependency on taxpayer dollars, grows more urgent each day this strike continues.”
In the meantime, CUPW is urging Canadians to contact their Members of Parliament to demand an end to service cuts, investment in expanded postal services and support for postal workers at the bargaining table.
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