By Tanya Cronin

Work stoppage looming, Canada Post issues lockout notice

Jul 5, 2016 | 4:02 PM

KAMLOOPS — Job action looms, and mail serivce in this country could be coming to a halt as early as Friday. 

Canada Post has issued 72 hour lockout notice, saying the latest offer it made to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers in the ongoing labour dispute, is to be considered final. 

Postal workers have been without a contract since the beginning of the year.

Come Friday, mailboxes right across the country could remain closed, and 50,000 Canada Post workers forced out onto the streets without pay. 

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“I think Canada Post is going to try and starve us out this time, that’s their intent,” says Patricia Nauss, President of Kamloops Local 758.

After months of negotiations, Canada Post has issued a 72 hour lockout notice to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, calling its latest contract offer made on June 25th, final.

“Disappointed that Canada Post isn’t willing to keep negotiating, we want to negotiate a contract because we don’t want to stop the service of Canada, we want to keep delivering the mail.”

The Crown Corporation claims CUPW’s $1billion demands are simply not affordable, and blames prolonged negotiations, the union’s strike mandate, and the cost of a rapidly declining mail volume. Patricia Nauss says workers feel bullied, Canada Post refuses to bargain in good faith, and locking the doors has always been the plan. 

“It has been in the works, they’ve also tried to provoke us, testing us along by first cutting off our benefits, and then saying we’re not going to cut off our benefits, and now imposing a lockout. I think they’re trying to force us, or see if we’ll go out on strike which we’re not going to do.”
    
The two sides have been in contract negotiations since November, trying to reach a new agreement for thousands of workers including 140 letter carriers and mailroom staff in Kamloops. The main issues at hand are wages, pensions and job security, but wage equity is one of the biggest concerns.

“For our rural carriers which are mostly female, we want pay equity for them because they make about 28% less than we do and they still do the same job.”

The last time there was a work stoppage at Canada Post was in 2011. The union is still holding out hope a deal can be negotiated and will do everything in its power to ensure mail service isn’t brought to a halt. But what looms for workers at the end of this week, is still uncertain.    

“On Friday morning when we go to work, working conditions are going to change, if there’s mail, maybe they’ll pick a few people to deliver it maybe they won’t, maybe they’ll send some people home maybe they won’t, maybe we’ll all be working, we really don’t know.”