Postal workers set to rally at London City Hall as rotating strikes continue

Local postal workers and their allies will be rallying outside London City Hall on Monday, as rotating strikes continue across the country.

It remains to be seen where the next strikes will be held, but members of the London Local of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) are set to gather outside 300 Dufferin on Monday at noon to call on the government to support striking postal workers.

“We know that postal workers are standing up for good, middle-class jobs and for gender equality, and they’re pushing for expansion of services that will benefit all Canadians,” said James Hutt, rally organizer and campaign co-ordinator for Delivering Community Power.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We know that postal workers are standing up for good, middle-class jobs and for gender equality, and they're pushing for expansion of services that will benefit all Canadians," said James Hutt, rally organizer and campaign co-ordinator for Delivering Community Power.

“We’ve seen that many allies, whether they’re in the labour movement, anti-poverty, or just the general public, want to support postal workers, so this rally is a chance for people to actually come out and show the government that it’s time to end the strike and to support postal workers.”

CUPW members have been striking on a rotating basis since Oct. 22, in an effort to put pressure on Canada Post as the two parties try to negotiate new collective agreements for unionized urban and rural workers.

The union, which represents 50,000 postal employees, says major issues of concern in the negotiations are members’ working conditions, job security and forced overtime, among others.

“If you look at what postal workers are putting forward, things like gender equality, protecting middle-class jobs, and new services like services for seniors, there’s really no reason not to accept those demands,” said Hutt.

“Often, it just takes a little bit of push, and that’s what we’re doing here as allies and supporters, is giving that little extra push to the federal government saying, ‘Listen, this is good for everybody — the postal workers are bargaining in the public interest. Let’s support them.'”

Canada Post said it has made “significant offers” to the union, including “increased wages, job security and improved benefits,” without asking for any concessions.

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The federal government appointed a special mediator to assist the corporation and the union to negotiate a new deal.

The union’s senior leadership continues to choose when and where rotating strikes will start and stop, with the decision about Monday’s strike location(s) expected to be revealed late Sunday.

Canada Post services and operations continue as normal in locations that aren’t participating in job action.

However, the corporation continues to tell customers to expect days-long delays as strike activity continues across the country and mail backlogs increase at its three largest processing facilities.