National Strike Update Canada Post to Partially Resume Mail Delivery
Postal Service Partially Resumes Amid Rotating Strikes in Canada
Canada Post Workers Shift to Rotating Strikes
Effective immediately, Canada Post workers will transition from a national strike to rotating strikes starting Saturday. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) announced the strategy change on Thursday evening, aiming to resume mail and parcel deliveries in specific regions. Although details on which areas will be affected initially remain undisclosed, each local postal section will receive advance notice regarding strike status.
Union’s Stand for Better Contracts and Robust Postal Service
The postal workers had been on a full-scale national strike for two weeks, protesting significant changes imposed by Ottawa on Canada Post’s mandate. These changes include the expansion of community mailboxes and the closure of certain rural post offices. Canada Post views these changes positively, but the union strongly opposes them.
“This approach will help restore mail and parcel delivery while pursuing our fight for better collective agreements and a strong public postal service,” remarked Jan Simpson, the national union president, in a statement. The union argues against Canada Post’s recent negotiations aimed at “cutting services and employees’ rights.”
Recent Employer Proposal and Union’s Response
Last week, Canada Post submitted a new proposal offering a 13.56% salary increase over four years. However, this offer was coupled with planned job cuts and the removal of a hiring bonus, which the CUPW criticized as undermining the public postal service. A follow-up meeting is scheduled next week with Public Affairs Minister Joël Lightbound’s team.
Concerns Over Municipal Elections Amidst Strike
The Montreal Metropolitan Community (CMM), representing 82 municipalities in Greater Montreal, is urging Canada Post and the CUPW to recognize the distribution of municipal election documents as essential. With municipal elections just weeks away, CMM adopted a resolution on Thursday advocating for immediate action to ensure timely delivery of electoral documents.
“Ensuring that all citizens receive electoral information is crucial for the proper functioning of our democracy. There is concern over potential low voter turnout – already an issue in municipal elections – if voter cards are not mailed out,” said Catherine Fournier, executive committee vice-president of CMM and mayor of Longueuil.
Government and Community Requests for Action
The CMM is also calling on the Canadian government to take concrete action in this regard. “There is still time for the federal government and Canada Post to recognize electoral notices as an essential service and facilitate their distribution promptly,” suggested Stéphane Boyer, CMM council vice-president and mayor of Laval. The importance of receiving voting cards by mail, especially for the elderly, has been highlighted by Luc Rabouin, candidate for the mayor of Montreal.
Concerns are growing across various organizations about the potential impact of the Canada Post strike on the delivery of electoral documents. Both the Union of Quebec Municipalities (UMQ) and the Legault government have publicly addressed this issue in recent weeks. An absence of document distribution could affect “almost 6 million citizens, or 66% of the population,” warns the UMQ.
The strike places the distribution of mail-in voting kits at risk, affecting non-resident voters like property owners and business premises. In response to the strike, the city of St. John’s, located in Newfoundland and Labrador, has postponed its municipal elections from October 2 to October 8.
