Canadians will find out soon whether or not our mail carriers and plant workers at Canada Post will be taking a possible strike later this month.
Canada Post workers voted yesterday on whether to give their union a strike mandate. If the vote is in favour, there may be a strike or a lockout by Sept. 26. The results are expected to be released today or tomorrow.
The collective agreements for working conditions expired in December 2017 and talks started up in early June. Canada Post says that both sides are working to come to an agreement.
CUPW national president Mike Palecek warned early last month that union members should be prepared for “some type of job action” if the talks fail.
At the centre of negotiations is a pay equity dispute in regards to the carriers 8,000 rural and 42,000 urban workers. The pay discrepancies between the workers was criticized by Arbitrator Maureen Flynn, who gave both sides until the end of August to reach a negotiated settlement.
That deadline has passed, and Flynn is expected to impose a solution.
Canada Post announced that they recorded a loss before tax of $242 million for the second quarter of 2018, mainly in “recognition of estimated costs associated with adjusting how delivery employees in suburban and rural Canada (RSMC) are paid.”
-With files from The Canadian Press.
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