CANADA—The Canada Post Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) announced last week that it would be moving from nationwide strike action to rotating strikes as of this past Saturday.
Jan Simpson, national president of CUPW announced last Thursday, “today, we are announcing that starting Saturday, October 11 CUPW will move from a nation-wide strike action to rotating strikes. Locals that will be rotating out will be informed closer to the time when they will take action.”
“This will start mail and parcels moving, while we continue our struggle for good collective agreements and a strong public postal service. We did not take the decision to move to a nationwide strike lightly. Postal workers would much rather have new collective agreements and be delivering mail instead of taking strike action,” said Ms. Simpson.
“Yet, we could not stand by as the government announced its plans to allow Canada Post to gut our postal service and slash thousands of our jobs,” said Simpson in the release. “Contract after contract, this employer has sought to chip away at postal services, worker rights and good jobs, and its latest offers are an outright attack on public service. The government’s announcement on September 25 also emboldened Canada Post to continue making a mockery of the bargaining process.”
“We want to thank our members for standing strong, the public for their support, as well as the New Democratic Party and Bloc Quebecois for holding this government accountable. We have a follow-up meeting with Government Transformation Minister Joel Lightbound’s office next week,” continued Ms. Simpson. “We will continue our fight for strong public services, good jobs and a sustainable public post office for all Canadians.”
The union has been in the midst of its second nationwide strike in less than a year, which has brought nearly all mail and parcel delivery to a complete halt.
Due to the precarious nature of the rotating strikes, on-Island subscribers of The Expositor will continue to receive newspapers at the totes located in most communities. The weekly e-edition can be accessed each Wednesday at
Manitoulin.com. The Expositor appreciates your patience during this time.
