Canada Post officials said on Tuesday, November 12, 2024 they have received strike notices from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), for both Urban and RSMC (Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers) bargaining units.
“The notices indicate that CUPW intends to begin strike activity as of Friday, November 15 at 12:01 a.m. ET, unless the parties reach agreements before then,” Canada Post officials said on their website.
“Our operations continue as normal at this time. We’ll post more detailed information on our website shortly. Please stay tuned.”
Canada Post labour updates can be found, here.
Jan Simpson, the national president for CUPW, said their national executive board issued what is known as a “72-hour strike notice” to Canada Post for both the RSMC and Urban bargaining units.
“This means that we will be legally allowed to strike as of Friday, November 15 if negotiated settlements have not been reached,” Simpson said in a media release on the CUPW website.
“Although we’ve given notice to Canada Post, the National Executive Board has not yet determined whether job action will take place immediately. It will depend on Canada Post’s actions at the bargaining table in the days to come. We will keep you updated on negotiations and possible strike actions in the days to come.”
Simpson added: “After almost a year of bargaining, despite our best efforts, the parties remain far apart on many issues.”
Simpson added the following are some of the key demands from CUPW that have not been resolved:
– Wage increases in line with inflation
– COLA payments to be rolled into the basic wage rate
– The full elimination of SSD
– Time to prepare and deliver Neighbourhood Mail and changes to Article 50 and Appendices “V-1” and “D” to address route length and overburdening
– Improved staffing provisions, including forcing CPC to fill vacancies monthly, the deletion of Clause 39.04, improvements to Clause 39.05, creation of Group 1 relief positions, and changes to Appendix “P” to address local staffing issues
– Increase STDP payments from 70% to 80% of wages and increase Injury on Duty payments to 88%
– Add 10 paid medical days to the seven paid personal days, and allow medical days to be banked
– Significant improvements to the group benefits plans, including increased coverage for health specialists, fertility treatment, gender-affirming care, vision care, and more
– Improved rights for Temporary employees, including access to group benefits plans when working continuous assignments of 6 months or more
– Precautionary cessation of work for pregnant and breastfeeding employees
– Rotations of duties for Groups 3 and 4
– Paid meal and rest periods for workers working five hours or more
– Improved protections against technological change
– Improved protections against contracting out
– Improved protections against harassment
– Contract in cleaning, highway services, Combined Urban Services, and other work CUPW members can perform service expansion projects, including postal banking, senior and other check ins, and an e-commerce platform
More information from the union can be found at https://www.cupw.ca/.
