Posties stay off job in Central Okanagan
Local postal workers remain on picket lines Monday after joining rotating strikes Friday
Postal workers in the Central Okanagan were back on the picket line Monday morning, frustrated with the lack of a satisfactory deal with Canada Post.
Members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers from Lake Country to Peachland walked the picket line on Oct. 24 for 24 hours, and again this past Friday, as part of a series of rotating strikes across the country.
“We’re feeling a little disappointed that the corporation still isn’t coming to the table,” Matthew Aitken, president of Kelowna CUPW Local 760, said Monday morning. “They want to push the negotiations into next year. We’re out on the line again in Kelowna today, because we wanted to let the corporation know this deal isn’t going to happen.”
On Monday morning, Canada Post said it would agree to another round of mediation with the union, but only if its striking workers end their walkouts during a so-called cooling-off period.
The Crown corporation also called for binding arbitration if no settlement is reached by the end of January. The union rejected that proposal. Federal Labour Minister Patty Hajdu then renewed her call for the two sides to continue bargaining.
That was met by an amended proposal from Canada Post that dropped the notion of binding arbitration.
Aitken said he wants people to know postal workers want to get back to work as soon as possible.
“We want to go back for the Christmas season, but we don’t want to go back when we’re forced to work overtime in a very heavy part of the year when the weather is bad. That’s when people get hurt, by working 10- or 12-hour days with no recourse,” he said.
“We don’t want to be out here, and we don’t want to delay any mail at all. We really feel like the corporation has pushed us to this point.”
As of Monday morning, Kelowna postal workers were on strike until further notice.
“We were maybe going to go back today at 9:30, but we didn’t,” Aitken said.
Whether or not the strike continues is up to the members, he said.
“This morning, we asked our members if they wanted to go back to work or if they wanted to make a statement and let the corporation know that we don’t like that deadline offer that pushed negotiations into next year, and lo and behold, we’re out on strike again,” said Aitken. “That’s the postal workers in Kelowna making a statement.”
Aitken has been in contact with Kelowna-Lake Country MP Stephen Fuhr, who he said has been supportive of the union.
“We want him to let the other Liberal members (of Parliament) know that the government should be pushing the corporation to negotiation — they shouldn’t be legislating us back to work,” said Aitken. “That’s a Stephen Harper trick, and we think the Liberals can do better.”