Post offices in Yellowknife and various other NWT communities have closed indefinitely as a Canada Post strike begins, workers on the picket line said on Friday.
At lunchtime outside downtown Yellowknife’s shuttered post office, seven unionized workers held signs and spoke with members of the public.
Those on the picket line said the signs spoke for themselves. “We fight for benefits,” read one. “Health and safety is essential, not optional,” read another.
Workers told Cabin Radio some 25 to 30 employees in Yellowknife are affected and post offices in Yellowknife, Hay River and Inuvik would be closed as a result of the strike.
Approached for confirmation about the status of all post offices in the NWT – many of which are housed in other stores, particularly in smaller communities – Canada Post replied with a more general statement that “mail and parcels will not be processed or delivered for the duration of the national strike and some post offices will be closed.”
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The Canadian Union of Postal Workers, or CUPW, did not respond to a request for information about how many of its members in the NWT are affected.
According to an earlier CUPW statement, some 55,000 workers went on strike just after 12am ET on Friday.
“After a year of bargaining with little progress, postal workers made the difficult decision to strike. Canada Post had the opportunity to prevent this strike, but it has refused to negotiate real solutions to the issues postal workers face every day,” the union stated.
“Instead, Canada Post left us no choice when it threatened to change our working conditions and leave our members exposed to layoffs.”
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In its own statement, Canada Post said it had lost $3 billion since 2018 but had still “put forward offers that protect and enhance what’s important to our current employees.”
“We’ve offered competitive wage increases (11.5 percent over four years) and additional paid leave, while protecting their defined benefit pension and job security provisions,” Canada Post stated.
“To help secure the future of the company and grow our parcel business, Canada Post has put forward proposals to offer seven-day-a-week parcel delivery, more competitive pricing and other important improvements. This new delivery model is essential for the future of the company, and critical to our ability to afford the offers.”
Yellowknife’s post office closure included the mailbox side of the building, meaning residents hoping to access those mailboxes could not do so on Friday.
“No new items will be accepted until the national disruption is over,” Canada Post said in its statement.
“All mail and parcels in the postal network will be secured and delivered as quickly as possible on a first-in, first-out basis once operations resume. However, a national strike of any length will impact service to Canadians well after the strike activity ends.
“Processing and delivery may take some time to fully return to normal.”
