Canada Post has swept the rug out from under the Union by issuing a 72-hour lockout notice.
Local Postal Union President, Tami Brushey, says they are stunned by the move.
“Postal workers want to be working right now. Canada Post called their global offer on June 21st their best offer and within a few hours they issued a lockout notice for Friday morning.”
Brushey adds the Union’s strike votes have been completed.
“Our strike votes are over, both bargaining units voted 90% in favor of giving our negotiating committee a mandate if it was necessary but we are not looking to use that strike vote, we want to be at work.”
Changes to the pension plans also remain a hot topic according to Brushey.
“It’s an issue with the entire Union. Canada Post wants to have newly-hired people on a different pension plan than the rest of us. As a Union, we believe in equality and equity across the workforce and we don’t believe new workers should be forced to take less pay or benefits than current workers.”
It has also been brought to the Union’s attention Canada Post has been utilizing some underhanded tactics with its customers.
“For the past several weeks Canada Post has been telling customers to mail elsewhere by sending their parcels through Purolator instead of Canada Post. They own Purolator and want to funnel their work elsewhere and then use it as an excuse to lock out its workers due to low mail volume. We find that to be a pretty cynical approach to negotiation.”