Canada Post issued a 72-hour employee lockout notice on Tuesday, which could come into effect as early as 8 a.m. on Friday, November 15.
The lockout notice was issued hot on the heals of a 72- hour strike notice issued by the Canadian Union of Postal workers on Tuesday.
As a result, CUPW members have been advised that as of 8 a.m. on November 15, members’ collective agreements will no longer apply, meaning the corporation will change working conditions.
A statement from CUPW says members have been bargaining with Canada Post over a new collective agreement for nearly a year. The union is asking for fair wages, safer working conditions, the right for current and future workers to retire with dignity, and new services at the public post office.
Canada Post’s last contract offer called for wage increases of 11.5 per cent over four years, protection of defined-benefit pensions for current employees, and improvements to job security and health coverage.
The union rejected the offer, with 96 per cent of its members voting in favour of strike action in October.
CUPW says the most recent round of bargaining has been challenging and intricate, adding that negotiators have faced new issues stemming from changes in postal work that have heavily impacted postal workers.
Nelson CUPW Local 780 President Bruce Northcott says there won’t be a noticeable impact to service from the employee lockout, explaining that workers will go to work as usual but under basic Canadian labour code laws instead.
“We’re all going into work as normal. Lockout, as described by Canada Post’s upper management, is a lockout from our collective agreement rules. So we’ll be working under basic Canadian labour code laws. It won’t affect any of our benefits or anything like that, but we’ll all go into work as normal.”
Northcott says the union met with the employer on Wednesday without progress, saying the employer is “unwilling” to negotiate and is “very set in their ways.”
“We’re at the negotiating table, doing the best we can to make any changes and to meet somewhere in between, but they’re unwilling to negotiate at all and are very set in their ways. We’re hoping that we can get something settled before the Christmas season, and honestly, we should be able to. There’s not a lot of difference in where we’re at; they’re just unwilling to move on anything.”
He says negotiations are ongoing and will continue through the weekend.
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