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OTTAWA – Canada Post employees moved their rotating strikes Friday in Sudbury, Ontario, and Saint John, New Brunswick, just after midnight.
The action followed the walkouts that took place Thursday in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Calgary, Red Deer, Alberta, and Kelowna, BC, all of which ended after a day.
Nearly 9,000 members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers pulled out earlier this week in the Greater Toronto Area as part of a rotating strike to support their bargaining demands.
The ongoing action at the giant parcel processing plant in Mississauga, Ontario, which processes about two-thirds of all parcels mailed in Canada, and to the courier's mail processing plant. south-central in east Toronto, has resulted in delays in sending tens of thousands of letters and parcels across the country.
Postal workers in the Toronto area were back at work at midnight Thursday after two days off, CUPW said.
"Our members would rather do their job than walk on picket lines, but Canada Post is not giving us a choice," said Mike Palecek, the union's national president, in a statement.
"Canada Post must come to the negotiating table ready to discuss important issues: health and safety, equality for factors and positions, and the end of precarious work."
CUPW and the postal service were unable to enter into new collective agreements for both bargaining units after 10 months of negotiations.
Labor Minister Patty Hajdu has named the special mediator, Morton Mitchnick, former chair of the Ontario Labor Relations Board, to help both parties resolve their contractual disputes.
In a statement on Wednesday night, Canada Post spokesman Jon Hamilton said the state-owned company had made "important offers" to CUPW – including pay increases, security of tenure Employment and improved benefits – and had not asked for any concessions in return.
He added that Canada Post was working to restore service and eliminate backlogs of mail and parcels.
"Canada Post continues to operate in the rest of Canada and accepts and delivers mail and parcels to all other locations," said Hamilton.
The Canadian press
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version incorrectly indicated that the walkout was at Fundy, NB.
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