Update: The CUPW members of the Columbia River Local are back to work Wednesday, October 31 with the rotating strike lasting 24 hours in the area.
Columbia River Local President Luc Julien says there is still no movement at the bargaining table as Canada Post refuses to address the union’s major issues.
The rotating strike is ongoing across the country until further notice.
Julien adds the local postal workers were proud and happily united on the picket lines yesterday.
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Postal workers in Castlegar, Trail, Rossland, and Nelson have joined the national rotating strike. Luc Julien is the President of the Columbia River Local of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and represents the 75 employees in Castlegar, Trail, and Rossland. Nelson is represented by a different local.
Julien explains why it was time to take action.
“We don’t want to be on strike. We’ve been negotiating with the employer for too long in good faith and unfortunately these are the steps that we have to take. But, we don’t want to be on strike, we want to be there for the public and our community.”
Julien says he’s unsure how long the strike will last and says he’s waiting direction from the national union.
One issue the union wants addressed is a gap in wages between urban postal workers, who are mostly male, and rural-suburban workers who are mostly female. An arbitrator ruled in favour of pay equity, but Julien says Canada Post has not yet made compensations.
He says another issue they’d like addressed is the retail and processing clerks, especially on the night shift in Castlegar, being understaffed.
“The workforce that’s on the night shift right now doesn’t represent the work load that needs to be done, so there’s constantly overtime, there’s constantly temporary workers working where it could be replaced with full time jobs for the members of our community.”
Julien says the online shopping industry has surpassed expectations which contributed to the increase in workload.
Negotiations have been underway for almost a year but the union says talks have stalled on the major issues.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has been calling out locals in a series of rotating strikes across the country in an effort to get Canada Post motivated to achieve a negotiated contract with both its Urban and Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers. It’s expected all locals across the country will strike at one point or another if things don’t move at the bargaining table. Strike action also began in Prince George, many communities in the Lower Mainland, and other areas across the country including Montreal.
On its website, Canada Post says it remains committed to the bargaining process. Click here to read more.
