Canada Post workers will refuse overtime as union starts strike action
Canada Post workers won’t be heading to a picket line just yet, but the union representing them says it’s still taking strike action by calling for a ban on overtime.
The Crown corporation is warning that could lead to delays.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) advised members late Thursday night that it had called for a nationwide overtime ban starting at 12 a.m. Eastern on Friday.
“This is a legal strike action. All CUPW members must follow this direction,” the union wrote in a news release.
“That means members are being called on to refuse to work any more than eight hours in a day and refuse to work more than 40 hours in a week.”
It comes a few hours after the two sides met Thursday evening at the request of the CUPW, Canada Post says, with the assistance of mediators.
According to the Crown corporation, the meeting lasted less than half an hour with CUPW “raising only a small number of the many outstanding issues in an informal matter.”
Canada Post said it was “not enough” to show meaningful progress.
It also said it asked the union to come back “with urgency” in response to the offers it had presented on Wednesday.
Under the overtime ban, the union says in addition to refusing to work more than a certain number of hours, letter carriers are also to return to their depot and drop off their mail whether they have completed their routes or not. Rural and suburban mail carriers (RSMCs) are to do the same.
Part time and temporary workers are allowed to extend their hours to a maximum of eight hours per day, 40 hours per week, the union said.
The Crown corporation said it would continue operating amid the overtime ban, but customers “may experience delays.”
“It’s unclear how CUPW’s strike action may evolve,” Canada Post wrote in a news release. “At this time, there are no rotating strikes or national work stoppage.”
Collective agreements between Canada Post and CUPW expired on Thursday, with the union having issued a 72-hour strike notice to the Crown corporation on Monday.
New offers were presented by Canada Post to the union on Wednesday which CUPW said it was reviewing, though the Crown corporation said it refused the union’s request for two weeks to review the offers.
At issue between the two sides are key demands on worker pay, the use of temporary workers, weekend delivery, benefits and pensions, and how Canada Post could meet a “critical financial situation” that experts have said could go “the route of Blockbuster.”
The latest offer from the national postal service includes a wage increase of six per cent in year one, three per cent in year two, two per cent in year three and two per cent in year four. This would be a compounded increase of 13.59 per cent over four years, Canada Post said in a statement on Wednesday.
The company is also offering to make changes to its part-time employment system.
“The company will create stable and predictable part-time jobs for people who are looking for flexible work. The part-time positions will provide health and pension benefits and scheduled and guaranteed hours (15 to 40 hours of work per week),” the statement said.
“The creation of part-time jobs increases the company’s delivery flexibility, especially on weekends, while ensuring that letter carriers are not required to work weekend shifts.”
Future employees, hired after the signing of the new collective agreements, will receive health and pension benefits after six months of regular employment, the company said.
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