Carriers will deliver pension and social assistance cheques if strike occurs
Mail across the country could come to a halt next Wednesday if Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) are unable to reach an agreement before then.
The 54,000 postal workers are eligible to strike at midnight on May 24, but must provide 72 hours’ notice of their intention to do so.
The union is rejecting yesterday’s latest four-year contract offer from Canada Post. The offer contains a wage increase of 1.75 per cent in each of the first two years, a 1.9 per cent increase in the third and a 2.0 per cent increase in the final year. However, Canada Post is still seeking to cut down on sick leave days from the Short Term Disability arrangements. New employees will also be hired under a new wage scale that will take seven years to reach the maximum rate.
CUPW has agreed to continue to deliver cheques to pensioners and social assistance recipients should a strike take place. Volunteers from the union will deliver Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security and Child Benefits cheques, as well as provincial social assistance cheques in Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the North West Territories.
The two parties have been bargaining with the aid of a government-appointed conciliator over wages, benefits, pensions and retiree benefits. The postal workers have been without a contract since Jan. 20, 2011 and, last month, voted 94.5 per cent in favour of striking if the two parties weren’t unable to reach a tentative agreement
