The possibility of a postal strike or lockout is looming.
Directors from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) were in St. Albert on Wednesday morning taking strike votes.
Gord Fischer, the national director of the prairie region for CUPW said despite taking a strike vote, a strike isn’t what the union wants.
“We want the employer to negotiate,” Fischer said in an interview after his visit to St. Albert on Wednesday. “The last thing we want is a strike.”
Canada Post initiated a conciliation process that ended on June 10. There is a 21 day “cooling off” period and, according to a June 13 notice sent by Canada Post to customers, the earliest any labour disruption could occur is July 2.
Negotiations continue, the notice said.
Fischer said the conciliators have been asked to be mediators.
“We’ve never seen so many demands,” he said. Negotiations for both the union and rural postal workers are being handled together, he said, and negotiations have been ongoing for several months.
He said June 26 is when the vote calculation will be done.
A list of employer demands on the CUPW website said the Canada Post negotiators have proposed rollbacks on seniority rights, benefits, working conditions along with other demands.
Canada Post sent an emailed statement in response to a media request by the Gazette about the potential for a strike or lockout.
“Canada Post understands the importance of the service we provide, and we've been working hard since negotiations started in late 2015 to get a deal that is fair to our employees, recognizes the changes to our business and the evolving needs of our customers. As we are in conciliation, no legal work disruption can occur until the end of June,” said the statement.
Fischer said there are major issues the union has on the table during the negotiations, including a return to door to door delivery and for Canada Post to start offering postal banking services.
Notices on the CUPW website said postal workers have agreed to continue to deliver pension and social assistance cheques and ensure the safety of live animals in the event of a strike or lockout.
