Postal workers could strike this weekBy Carmen Chai, Postmedia News
May 30, 2011 1:14 PM
OTTAWA — Canadians could be without postal service by the end of this week after the union representing tens of thousands of Canada Post employees issued a strike notice to the Crown corporation Monday in a last-ditch attempt to force an agreement.
After seven months of failed negotiations, the union tabled its final counter-offer and turned down Canada Post's latest offer Monday morning.
"Striking is our only real bargaining lever with Canada Post and we have concluded that we must give notice that we are willing to use our legal right to strike to get a decent contract that meets the needs of our members and preserves public postal service, Canadian Union of Postal Workers national president Denis Lemelin said.
He told reporters that union members were still pushing for a collective agreement but that ultimately Canada Post officials had to drop some of its demands if it didn't want to trigger a strike, the first in 14 years.
"After seven months of negotiations, Canada Post continues to demand major concessions, including unsafe work methods, a 22 per cent wage reduction for new hires and the elimination of a sick leave plan that members have had for over 40 years," Lemelin said.
Union negotiators have asked for a wage increase of 3.3 per cent in the first year, followed by 2.75 per cent in the subsequent years of a four-year contract.
Lemelin said that the current sick leave plan is based on banking sick days but the Crown corporation is fighting for a short term disability plan to replace it, which has caused contention between the two sides.
"They have to let go of the concessions they put on the table. It's important for the postal workers; we deserve to have a good job," Lemelin said, asking Canada Post if it wanted a "society based on cheap labour."
Canada Post spokesman Jon Hamilton said the union's demands show that its members aren't respecting the corporation's current situation.
"The offer the union has put forward has unfortunately shown how far out of touch they are with the challenges we're facing with Canada Post," Hamilton said.
"In the last 16 years, we've never had to ask taxpayers for a dime, but the demands the union (has put forward) puts us in a position that we just can't accept."
Hamilton said officials offered a 1.9 per cent increase a year, with wages starting at $18 an hour for new hires and increases capping at $26 for new and existing employees. Employees also receive a benefit pension plan and up to seven weeks vacation despite a 17 per cent decline in letter mail volume since 2006.
Hamilton said banking sick days isn't a fair system because new employees who could face illness later on the job would be left with little coverage.
Still, Hamilton said the corporation will continue to try to compromise with union negotiators, noting that a strike would affect about a million small- and medium-sized businesses, 4.5 million seniors and millions more in rural communities and in the North where Canadians rely on the postal service to receive essentials.
"We're going to negotiate as long as there's somebody else on the other side of the table. We think what we've put forward leaves our employees better off than they are today," he said.
The CUPW represents 50,000 members in its urban operations bargaining unit, including full-time, part-time, and temporary workers.
The union is required to give 72 hours notice if it is going on strike; the corporation has to give the same period of notice in the case of a lockout. The union will be in a legal position to strike on Thursday at 11:59 p.m. if a deal has not been struck by then.
In the event of a strike, regular mail and parcel delivery would stop, except for the delivery of welfare and other social assistance cheques.
Canada Post says contingency plans are in place to ensure the safety of any items that remain in the mail stream during a strike.
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