News release

November 26, 2004

Strike looms at Canada Post

Ottawa – Members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada working at Canada Post voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action and are prepared to walk the picket line as early as December 8 if they don't get a fair collective agreement soon.

The president of the PSAC component Union of Postal Communications Employees (UPCE), Luc Guevremont, indicated that 73% said yes to strike action at Canada Post after the PSAC negotiating team reported that management was asking for a series of rollbacks without addressing any of the members' priority proposals.

“It's a strong strike mandate from our members and higher than the mandate we received in the last round of negotiations with Canada Post in 2001,” said Guevremont. “This tells us that our members are deeply concerned about their wages, benefits and working conditions and are frustrated with management's refusal to address their issues.”

Canada Post has been trying to reassure the public through the media that there will be no service disruptions due to a UPCE strike and that it is confident that a settlement will be reached.

“I hope this means they're ready to say yes to our priority demands now,” says PSAC Regional Executive Vice-President for British Columbia Patty Ducharme. “Otherwise, I don't see how they can make their claim. We're no closer to reaching a deal than we were last July when we started and the strike vote result has just raised the potential for disruptions in the mail service.”

So far, the employer has tabled proposals that contain rollbacks on health and dental benefits, severance pay, various leaves and more. The employer also refused to address in any meaningful way many of the PSAC priorities, including job security and work within the bargaining unit, staffing of positions and treatment of surplus employees .

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For information: Luc Guevremont, UPCE President, (613) 560-4342

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