Canada Post customers should continue to mail their packages and shop online despite a 72-hour strike notice by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, said Janet Barney, president of CUPW Local 850 representing Victoria.
“It’s business as usual,” Barney said Friday. “There is no strike at this point. It’s just a strike action. There’s a big difference.”
Any job action will take the form of a rotating ban on overtime, one province and territory at a time. Barney explained it could mean postal workers in Ontario will have an overtime ban on Monday, then overtime will be banned on Tuesday in P.E.I. The rotating ban could take two weeks to go through every province and territory, she said.
During the job action, postal workers will work regular eight-hour shifts, but no more. Workers who are part-time can extend their hours up to eight hours a day, said Barney.
“We’re doing this to put a minimum impact on our customers. It’s putting pressure on the government and Canada Post.”
On Friday, Labour Minister MaryAnn Mihychuk appointed mediator and arbitrator William Kaplan to lead a team of interveners to negotiate an end to the months-long labour dispute at the Crown agency.
During the afternoon, Canada Post issued an advisory saying it could no longer guarantee a fully operational network and is temporarily suspending the fee for delivering neighbourhood flyers by a certain start date.
When Canada Post issued a
72-hour lockout notice on July 5, people stopped using the mail, but it took a long time to have an impact, said Barney.
“Someone explained it to me that it’s like draining a bathtub. It doesn’t happen in 20 seconds. The effect of this rotating overtime ban could be a one-day lag. There’s lots of stuff in the system. Customers won’t notice it,” said Barney.
Postal workers will continue to deliver the mail and they want the Canadian public to support them, said Barney. “It’s been our mandate all along not to go on strike. A lot of our members live paycheque to paycheque and they don’t want to go on strike either. So this job action has been chosen to have a minimal impact on customers and some of our members who are struggling with high rent.”
Other job actions could include not wearing the Canada Post carrier uniform, she said. Plant employees across Canada have been coming to work in the past few weeks all wearing the same colour of T-shirt.
“People get scared by the word strike, but it’s a strike action. We want to negotiate a collective agreement. And consumers don’t have anything to worry about at this point,” said Barney.
As the labour dispute drags on, both the federal and provincial governments continue to encourage people to sign up for direct deposit online.
Canada Post and the union have agreed to keep delivering cheques for old-age security, Canada Pension Plan, the working income tax benefit, the Canada Child Benefit and student loans.
In B.C., the Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation will continue to send income-assistance cheques through the mail. The government is encouraging people to sign up for direct deposit online through https://myselfserve.gov.bc.ca. It is also providing updates on a toll- free phone line at 1-866-866-0800.
If there is a strike, arrangements will be made for people who receive income and disability assistance, child-care subsidies, or critical documents such as Residential Tenancy Branch to pick up cheques or documents at the local agency or Service B.C. office.
That information can be found at http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/postal-service-disruption-information. The next date for cheques is Sept. 21.
The Canada Revenue Agency is also recommending using online services to pay make tax payments or to receive refunds, rebates and other benefits.
Passport Canada is recommending people wait to submit a passport or travel document unless they have upcoming travel plans. People who plan to travel in less than six weeks should apply for their passport in person.
Amazon, which uses several carriers including Canada Post to deliver packages to customers, said it is monitoring the progress of the negotiations and has contingency plans to minimize service disruptions.
In the event of a work disruption, people are still responsible for paying their utility, phone and credit-card bills.
