WELLINGTON COUNTY – Local postal workers are expected back on the job after the Thanksgiving long weekend with a switch from a nation-wide walkout to local, rotating strikes.
The change in tactics was announced by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) following an Oct. 8 meeting with procurement minister Joel Lightbound aimed at reversing changes to Canada Post’s mandate announced last month.
The switch, CUPW president Jam Simpson said in a statement, “will start mail and parcels moving, while continuing our struggle for good collective agreements and a strong postal service.”
Delivery is expected to ramp up locally starting Tuesday morning, according to CUPW Local 546 president Remegius Cheeke.
But direction on which local branches will participate in rotating strikes, and when, will come from the national level with little notice, Cheeke cautioned.
If the Guelph-based union branch, which represents postal workers in Wellington County, isn’t told otherwise, it means mail can be dropped off, retail counters will reopen, and post office boxes will be accessible come Tuesday.
Canada Post said in a statement on Friday afternoon it “will welcome back employees” starting Saturday, but service guarantees are suspended.
“While postal services will begin to resume next week, uncertainty and instability in the postal service will continue with the union’s decision to conduct rotating strikes,” Canada Post stated.
The union last used rotational strikes in 2018, before members were legislated back to work.
Fergus post office union steward Connor Ehrlich finds it “frustrating” to shift to rotating strikes as the walkout was building momentum.
The point of the strike is to get attention and cause discomfort, Ehrlich said.
But postal workers are “worn out” and some are “living paycheque to paycheque,” he said.
Ehrlich suggested that’s why CUPW is switching tactics.
“I think there’s a lot of fear and anxiety from all the members,” he said.
“We’re also pissed off that we still don’t have a contract, and having to face layoffs on top of that, everyone’s just worn out by that.”
CUPW’s nationwide membership took to picket lines the day after Lightbound’s Sept. 25 announcement amid a nearly two-year impasse between the union and Canada Post on new collective agreements for letter carriers.
The strike has lasted 15 days.
Lightbound announced the government was loosening restrictions on Canada Post’s operations to help save millions of dollars for the Crown corporation.
Among the most significant changes:
- lowering of delivery standards;
- prioritizing community mailboxes over door-to-door delivery; and
- lifting of a moratorium protecting some rural post offices from closure.
Canada Post CEO Doug Ettinger has welcomed the government’s direction.
The mail service has 45 days to provide the government with a plan to implement operational changes.
CUPW national president Jan Simpson issued a statement following the Lighthouse meeting, saying the government’s involvement during the labour dispute has “undermined free and fair collective bargaining.”
“The Union also reminded the minister that the only way for this dispute to come to an end is for Canada Post to offer postal workers ratifiable collective agreements,” Simpson said.
Fergus post office workers picket outside the post office on Sept. 29. Front row, left to right: Austin Clark, CUPW Local 546 union steward Connor Ehrlich, Rebecca Bartlett. Back row, left to right: Erin Gut, Carly Marr, Priscilla Nauta, Gary Job, Brandon Biggings, Cam Millar. Photo by Jordan Snobelen
Ehrlich, the Fergus union steward, said local members agree change is needed, but shuttering rural post offices should be off the table.
There are 12 rural post offices in the county protected by moratorium, including the Fergus location, which was also protected by past collective agreements.
“Some members agree that door-to-door delivery can be phased out, same as daily mail delivery,” Ehrlich said.
“I think that is more of a middle ground.”
But the lingering, unanswered question, Ehrlich added, is what Canadians see for the future of the nation’s mail service.
“We’ve been trying to stand up for them, but it sometimes feels like a lost cause, that nobody cares.”
Canada Post’s latest Oct. 3 submission to the union spans 500 pages, and hasn’t yet been formally responded to by the union.
In its Oct. 10 statement, Canada Post urged the union back to the bargaining table.
“The company is waiting to hear back from the union on its latest offers,” the statement said.
“Only new collective agreements will provide the certainty Canadians require to confidently use the postal system.”
But the union says little has improved from offers rejected by 69 per cent of its membership in August, following a forced vote by federal jobs minister Patty Hajdu.
The latest offers keeps a 13.6 per cent compounded wage increase across four years, but removes a signing bonus and proposes a certain workforce reduction through attrition and departure incentives.
Canada Post has blamed striking workers for worsening its “critical financial situation” and said its latest offers reflect the company’s “financial realities.”
But in an Oct. 3 statement, Simpson said Canada Post “seems hell-bent on making workers pay for the financial crisis it created and trying to turn the public against the very workers who keep this service alive.”
In an Oct. 9 statement, she added the union “will continue our fight for strong public services, good jobs and a sustainable public post office for all Canadians.”
A followup meeting with Lightbound is planned next week, according to the union.
