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As striking workers walk up and down the sidewalk in front of Regina’s downtown Canada Post location, one of the picketers says he’s in an especially tough situation.
The worker, who wished to remain anonymous, said he received a call from HR last week saying that he would be laid off once the strike is over.
“This doesn’t make any sense, because the reasoning they said was ‘we might not have enough volume to work,’ so that’s why they will be laying off people,” the Canada Post worker said. “It’s the busiest season of the year. That’s when you need people the most to deliver all the mail that goes through our plant.”
“We’ve informed employees that their expired collective agreements are no longer in effect and their terms and conditions of employment have now changed, as allowed under the Canada Labour Code,” Canada Post said in a statement.
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The laid-off employee was said he was nervous about speaking out, but his colleagues encouraged him to share his story.
“I’ve been getting lots of support,” he said. “It’s great to know that as awful this situation might be, everyone is in the same boat and we’re trying to move forward.”
He said his colleagues on the picket line feel like family, and he’s chosen to stay because he feels it’s the right thing to do.
“It’s an essential service,” he said. “Everyone wants to do a good job but we can’t do it alone. We need to find a common ground between the workers and the corporation.”
But until that common ground is found, he said he’ll remain out on the picket lines, despite the chilly weather.
“If being here and reminding people of that and being with my colleagues is the best I can do, I’ll be here as much as I can,” he said.
While it can be hard to keep morale up, many of the strikers still had smiles on their faces as they walked the line.
“Sometimes it feels like you’re against the system,” the worker said.
“It’s better to do something and spread the word and support one another that just sitting and waiting for something good to happen.”
He said he hopes people continue to show support, even if it’s with a simple honk as people drive by.
“It makes us feel recognized,” he said.
Union president explains what workers are looking for
Brahm Enslin, President of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) Saskatoon local 824, joined the Evan Bray Show Friday morning.
He discussed what workers are looking for, and the divide between the corporation and its employees.
Listen to the full interview here:
“We’re fighting for fair wages, safer working conditions and the right to retire in dignity,” Enslin said.
“These are some of the things that we’ve been able to win in the past. These are some benefits that we’ve received, but we’re looking to avoid them from being rolled back and taken away from us.”
He said the major divide between the union and the corporation is the future of Canada Post. Enslin said it can and should be better.
“The union has been putting forward a program for a while called delivering community power,” he said. “If Canada Post were to invest in the business, it should be investing in expanding the services to provide better services all around the country.
“Since we’ve already got post offices in almost every community, they could do a little bit better. Why not utilize that network for new services. There are other things across the world that work well for post offices, like postal banking. We can provide things like electric vehicle charging stations and all sorts of things that people could utilize in the small communities, since we’re there anyway.”
He also pitched the idea of post offices helping rural communities access high-speed internet.
He said these ideas could bring in revenue and that similar ideas have seen success in European counties.
Enslin admits that the timing is unfortunate, but it’s just how things worked out.
The most recent contract ended in 2021, but Canada Post workers accepted an extension of the collective agreement to ensure people got their packages during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Including the extension, it’s been about three years since negotiations actually started, according to Enslin.
He said workers want to get people through the holidays.
“Postal workers are completely empathetic,” he said. “There’s not one that doesn’t want to be out there working right now, postal workers are taking no wages. But it’s nothing to do with that. It has everything to do with saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got one last opportunity to make this work.’ Nothing has ever been gained without a fight in the past.
“Canada Post could easily fix this by just coming to the table to negotiate properly. And we could be delivering parcels right now, which is something we want to do more than than anything.”
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