With just days remaining in the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) strike mandate, talks with Canada Post seem to be at an impasse.
“We want a negotiated settlement and we're willing to continue to negotiate but we're not getting any kind of commitment or movement from the employer on any of the big, key issues,” said Larry Dionne, president of CUPW Local 730 in Edmonton.
The 60-day strike mandate was taken by union membership earlier this year and is set to expire on Aug. 25. Dionne said Canada Post refused to extend the mandate and other options could be looked at.
“All along we didn't want to do a strike vote. We wanted a negotiated settlement. We did a strike vote as a defensive measure,” he said, noting he can't see the union calling a full or rotating strike at this time.
“Eventually they're going to try and push us into a strike. Then they'll probably try to get us ordered back to work in an arbitrated settlement,” said Dionne. “I believe that's really the strategy of Canada Post, is to get an arbitrated settlement rather than a negotiated settlement.
“I think what we're going to do is petition the government to extend the (strike) period or to tell Canada Post to get to the bargaining table,” he added.
The impact of stalled negotiations is being felt at both at the national and local levels, including here in Innisfail.
“Until we get a negotiated settlement of settlement, people are a little afraid to use the mail service,” said Dionne. “The immediate impact the last time they put the 72-hour notice out was that mail volumes dried up and Canada Post then cut part-time hours.”
Larry Dionne, Local 730 president
"I think what we're going to do is petition the government to extend the (strike) period or to tell Canada Post to get to the bargaining table."
