FERGUS – The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) strike that began on Nov. 15 continued this week.
“We have been without a contract for nearly a year. This happens every negotiation. It’s stalled. There’s not really any negotiating happening,” said Anika Warmington, second vice president of CUPW Local 546, based in Guelph.
“We’re really far apart … So as a last resort, we need to put pressure on the company to negotiate a contract with us.”
Nearly 55,000 Canada Post workers walked off the job on Nov. 15 and have been picketing outside local post offices in an attempt to demand fair wages and safer working conditions.
“One of the things we’re looking for is to keep our pensions … especially for new hires, to have the same good pension that more senior workers have,” said Warmington on Nov. 18.
“We want to keep our pensions safe. It’s important for people to be able to have dignity when they retire, to have a good pension.”
She added, “We have a two-tier wage system that was imposed on us in 2011 and we’re trying to get rid of that as well.”
The union is also demanding wage adjustments, as Warmington says the current offer is not equal to inflation.
“We haven’t had a significant raise in a really long time. I’ve been here for 20 years, and what they’re offering isn’t even in line with inflation,” she said.
“So, it’s essentially a pay cut.”
According to CUPW officials, Canada Post had the opportunity to prevent the strike but refused to negotiate real solutions.
Officials also claim Canada Post is “attempting to undermine hard-won collective agreements, reduce full time jobs, and compromise the quality of service provided to the public.”
A statement provided to the Advertiser by Canada Post notes that despite mounting financial losses, officials have put forward offers that protect and enhance what is important to current employees.
“Canada Post is at a critical juncture, losing more than $3 billion since 2018, with losses continuing to mount,” stated officials.
“Even with that, Canada Post has continued to put forward offers that protect and enhance what’s important to our current employees.
“We’ve offered competitive wage increases (11.5 per cent over four years) and additional paid leave, while protecting the defined benefit pension and job security provisions.”
Canada Post officials says they remain committed to reaching new agreements at the bargaining table – not through arbitration – and that discussions with CUPW continue to achieve them.
It is unclear when the strike will end, as Warmington says the federal government has no interest in legislating postal workers back to work.
“We’ve always done rotating, or we’ve been locked out by the corporation, and we’re always legislated back within a couple of weeks, said Warmington.
“So, I’m not sure what happens this time as the federal government has said they’re not interested in legislating us, but we’ll see.”
