CUPW announces strike locations for Wednesday

CUPW announced the next strike action will be a 24 hour walk-out starting at 11pm in three communities: Salmon Arm, BC, Carboneer, NFLD, and Sioux Lookout, ON. Service in these areas will be shut down all day Wednesday, June 15, 2011 involving a total of 23 workers. Scarborough, Toronto and Montreal are all back to work tonight.

Service Canada has published an article entitled “What you need to know in the event of a full Postal Strike“. The fact that this document exists raises the question of whether or not CUPW is going to stick with rotating strikes. If the union feels this is not providing sufficient leverage against Canada Post to meet their demands, will they opt for a national strike?

However, the more interesting aspect of the document is its contents. Service Canada is recommending direct deposits to ensure payments get to Canadians. It is also recommending using web services to do various functions like filing a tax return or filling in the 2011 census. Canada Post has stated quite clearly that its business has been drastically reduced over these past few years as people turn more and more to on-line services. Payments can be made electronically which means more and more bills are being paid over the web and even invoices and bill statements are being delivered electronically. Society is slowly becoming more paperless. While CUPW seems to doubt this statement from Canada Post or is just ignoring it, here is the Canadian federal government recommending to its citizens to do exactly that: don’t mail, do it electronically.

CUPW – Jun 14/2011

Postal Workers in Three Small Communities Take Their Turn on the Lines

Posties from three smaller communities – Carbonear in Newfoundland, Sioux Lookout in Ontario, and Salmon Arm in BC – will hit the bricks tonight at 11 EDT, following their fellow postal workers in Montreal and Toronto.

Although their numbers come nowhere near to matching the thousands on the picket lines today in Montreal and Toronto, the roughly 23 postal workers in these three small rural towns play just as significant a role in their communities, says the union representing them.

“These are communities that know the value of good public postal service,” said Jeff Callaghan, National Director of the Atlantic region for the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

“We process and deliver mail to everybody, no matter where they live,” said Mark Evard, CUPW National Director of the Central region.  “Fed-Ex and UPS can’t match that. These communities will feel the impact of Canada Post’s lockout as much as the big urban centres.”

Canada Post has locked out postal workers across the country for two days a week, in addition to laying off numerous temporary and casual workers. Although the union has offered to suspend its rotating strikes on condition that its workers are temporarily protected by the old collective agreement, Canada Post has refused, cutting their hours instead.

“We appreciate the support of people in small communities when we’re on the picket lines,” said John Bail, National Director of the Pacific region. “They know Canada Post’s bully tactics aren’t right.”

Click HERE to read more from William Belle

Article viewed at: Oye! Times at www.oyetimes.com