Ottawa – Now that back to work legislation is complete, CUPW President Mike Palecek is hinting that the union might take legal action, stating that nothing has been resolved between the union and Canada Post management.
CUPW’s key demands for postal workers are job security, an end to forced overtime and overburdening, better health and safety measures, service expansion and equality for RSMC’s (Rural and Suburban Mail Carrier) . The concern there is they are not paid the same as regular full time employees.
From the CUPW website:
After 37 days of rotating strikes, unconstitutional legislation has removed the right to strike for postal workers. Legal strike action ends at noon today, but the struggle is not over. You cannot legislate labour peace. We are now moving to a different phase of the struggle. We are asking members to return to their regularly scheduled shifts as of 12:00 pm ET and await further instructions.
In the coming days, we will be calling on our allies and membership for a campaign of mobilizations, demonstrations and non-violent civil disobedience. All options remain on the table to achieve negotiated collective agreements that address health and safety, equitable treatment, fair wages and working conditions, and the democratic right to free collective bargaining.
The union restated their Saturday media release:
Going back to work under the old collective agreements means that between now and the holidays:
- At least 315 disabling injuries will happen to postal workers;
- Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers (RSMC) will work roughly 250,000 hours without pay;
- Urban postal workers will work thousands of hours of forced overtime;
- RSMCs will continue to be treated, as Canada Post calls it, with “equity but not equality”.
