Canada Post’s rotating strikes are back in Vancouver and other B.C. cities today
Posted November 10, 2018 7:45 am.
Last Updated November 10, 2018 1:37 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA — Canada Post workers are walking out on the job today in B.C., the second round of strikes in Vancouver since carriers started picketing last month.
A release by Canada Post says the work disruption will have “significant impact” and cause more backlog. Strikes are also happening on the Sunshine Coast, in Salmon Arm and Terrace, while work in Vernon, Williams Lake and Penticton is back on.
“Canada Post remains committed to the bargaining process,” the release continues, “The Corporation has made significant offers to CUPW that include increased wages, job security, and improved benefits, and it has not asked for any concessions in return.”
Spokesperson Jon Hamilton tells NEWS 1130 that Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal are some of Canada Post’s key processing locations and that any disruptions to those slow down delivery across the country. He adds that two-thirds of online orders go through Canada Post.
“Between those three, we process a million parcels a day, so anytime they’re down for any period of time is a hit to our ability to process,” Hamilton says. “Anything you’re buying online right now is likely going to be impacted.”
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers says that Vancouver workers walked off the job at 10 p.m. Friday night.
Jennifer Savage, president of Vancouver’s local of the CUPW, says nothing will be entering or leaving sorting centres in Richmond and Gaspe, Que., until the union’s leadership instructs otherwise. She adds that Canada Post has not been willing to talk about some key issues at the heart of the members and their leadership, such as overtime work, which Savage says is used as a “forced” staffing tool and throws some workers’ lives off balance.
“So instead of shutting everything down, which does not benefit anyone, we thought that slowing them down might put a bit of pressure on them to come back to the table and do some serious talking,” Savage tells NEWS 1130.
“They’re meeting, [but] there is just not a lot of talking going. The government has extended the mandate of the special mediator. They end today and hopefully they’ll make some headway on the key issues.”
Since Oct. 22, Canada Post says the strikes have shut down its operations in more than 150 communities across the country.
The union has called on a national overtime ban for both of its major bargaining units, meaning workers will not work more than an eight-hour day and no more than a 40-hour week.
— with files from The Canadian Press
