Notley OK with labour minister’s picket line visit
Gray was there to support postal workers without taking sides, spokesperson says
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said it wasn’t inappropriate for her labour minister to show up at a picket line of Canada Post workers.
Edmonton NDP MLA Christina Gray visited the line and posed with some striking workers for a photo that was posted on Twitter.
A spokesman for the minister says she was there to support postal workers without taking sides in the dispute.
United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney described Gray’s visit as strange and showing poor judgment.
Notley says Gray’s attendance would have been inappropriate if the labour dispute were a provincial matter. But she says the rotating walkouts across the country are Ottawa’s concern.
“It’s absolutely, completely under the jurisdiction of the federal government,” Notley said in Calgary.
“Our government supports working people generally,” she added. “That’s not particularly new.”
About 2,000 postal workers in Edmonton and surrounding communities, stretching from Jasper to Camrose, walked off the job Monday along with other employees in Victoria, Halifax and Windsor, Ont. They were to resume duties at midnight.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers, which represents 50,000 employees, is trying to pressure the Crown corporation into accepting contract changes. The two sides have been bargaining separate contracts for rural and urban carriers, without success, over the last 10 months.
Nancy Dodsworth, the Edmonton local union president, said Canada Post was respecting Monday’s picket lines.
“There’s nothing moving in Edmonton at all,” she said.
“All the trucks have been waved off and they ’ve been respecting our lines — much appreciated.”
In Calgary, city officials say they are working with an external courier service to maintain critical deliveries as Canada Post employees start rotating strikes.
The city announced Monday it has made arrangements to ensure the continuity of customer service and business operations during any disruption of postal service. It plans to work with the courier service to ensure deliveries of critical material to citizens and businesses go ahead.
“We’re committed to ensuring Calgarians continue to receive the same level of service they are used to from the City of Calgary during the mail service disruption,” the city’s manager of information technology, Ian Lofthouse, said in a news release.
The province also has plans in place for any Canada Post labour disruption. Officials say Alberta has an agreement with Canada Post to ensure Alberta Family Employment Tax Credit and Alberta Child Benefit cheques are delivered in the event of a postal disruption. Payments are expected to be delivered within a few days of regular delivery.
Plans also are underway to ensure cheques are distributed for income support, AISH, Family Support for Children with Disabilities and Persons with Developmental Disabilities benefits. Recipients are being encouraged to arrange for direct deposit to avoid any payment delays.
Child care, child and youth support program cheques will be available for pickup in most local offices, and an agreement is also in place to make sure benefit cheques for seniors programs are delivered.
Any driver’s licences and identification cards that are currently in progress will be held at the manufacturer’s site until mail disruption is over, the province said. If needed, the expiry dates for interim driver’s licences will be extended during mail service disruption.
It’s absolutely, completely under the jurisdiction of the federal government. Our government supports working people generally. That’s not particularly new. RACHEL NOTLEY