The Canadian Union of Postal Workers on Thursday night told Canada Post members to work to rule from Friday onward, refusing more than eight hours’ work a day.
CUPW said keeping members at work – but refusing any overtime – would “minimize disruptions to the public and lost days to members” compared to an outright strike.
Friday is the first day in which the union has been in a legal strike position so far this year. A weeks-long work stoppage took place late last year.
A midnight ET deadline for some form of last-minute deal appeared to come and go.
Months of negotiations between Canada Post and CUPW appear to have brought the sides barely any closer to a deal.
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CUPW has instructed members to “work to a maximum of eight hours in a day, forty hours in a week.” Postal workers making deliveries are told to return to the depot and drop off their mail after eight hours’ work, “regardless of whether they have completed their duties.”
“This is a legal strike action. All CUPW members must follow this direction,” members were told. “You cannot be disciplined for participating in a legal strike action.”
Earlier on Thursday, Canada Post said its representative had met with CUPW and mediators but the meeting “lasted less than half an hour” without, in the corporation’s view, “meaningful progress.”
“We asked them to come back, with urgency, with a response to the Global Offers we presented to the union on May 21,” Canada Post said of CUPW.
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“The comprehensive offers we put forward provide increased wages, removed key sticking points and included changes needed to compete in the parcel delivery business. They also reflect the Corporation’s financial and operational realities.
“The threat of a strike has already had a significant impact on Canada Post as customers have either moved to other delivery providers or have cancelled mailings to avoid their items being trapped by another disruption.”
CUPW said it reserved the right to take “additions actions” in the future and added its negotiators are continuing to review Canada Post’s latest offers.
