Canadian postal workers’ rotating strike returns to Victoria after third failed negotiation

After another failed round of negotiations, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) is continuing its rotating 24-hour strikes, and one of today’s affected cities is Victoria.

After three fruitless negotiations, Canada Post offered the CUPW a time-limited offer with signing bonuses in an attempt to bring the strikes to a close, according to a press release.

The four-year offer is worth approximately $650 million and includes:

• A pay increase of 2% per year plus a signing bonus of up to $1000,
• A new $10 million Health and Safety fund,
• Adjusted workloads and routes for changes in volume,
• A 25% increase in pay and improvements to benefits for rural and suburban employees,
• A new proposal to pay for overtime, better job security, and a move to one uniform for all delivery employees + more.

Canada Post hoped that the CUPW would accept the offer to help prepare for the upcoming winter holidays and Black Friday / Cyber Monday deliveries.

The union says that this most recent deal has made positive strides, but is far from what the postal workers would like to see .

“These offers are a step in the right direction, however, both the Urban and RSMC offers do not seriously address the major issues of our members – health and safety, equality and creating more full time jobs and less precarious work,” said Mike Palecek, CUPW National President in a press release.

“We understand that our customers are frustrated; we are also frustrated. Postal workers are hardworking, caring people who take great pride in serving the public. But we cannot go back to work at the busiest time of the year without fixing the issues that keep us injured and overworked.”

Negotiations between Canada Post and the CUPW are ongoing. Only time will tell how the high-volume holiday season will be affected.