Postal worker union to replace nationwide walkout with rotating strikes: CUPW president

A mail box is seen outside a Canada Post office in Halifax on Wednesday, July 6, 2016. Canada Post has issued a lockout notice to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), possibly triggering a work stoppage by Friday, July 8. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese

Looking for updates on Friday, Oct. 10? Here’s the latest.

The union representing striking postal workers says it will move from a nationwide walkout to rotating strikes starting Saturday.

In a statement released late Thursday night, Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) National President Jan Simpson said starting Saturday at 6 a.m. local time, the move to rotating strikes will get mail and parcels in the hands of Canadians, “while continuing our struggle for good collective agreements and a strong public postal service.”

“We did not take the decision to move to a nationwide strike lightly,” Simpson said. “Postal workers would much rather have new collective agreements and be delivering mail instead of taking strike action.”

According to the statement, locals that will be part of the rotating strikes will be informed close to when they will take action.

Jobs Minster Patty Hajdu told reporters Wednesday that CUPW and the Crown corporation have a responsibility to find a solution after nearly two years of labour negotiations.

“They all know the process. The process is that they negotiate until they get to a deal that everybody can live with,” she said.

CUPW’s rotating strike announcement comes two weeks after workers walked off the job Sept. 25, just hours after the federal government announced door-to-door mail delivery will end for nearly all Canadian households within the next decade.

Hajdu told CTV News in a statement last month that “Canada Post must adapt while protecting good jobs” as the workforce evolves.

“CUPW and Canada Post need to find the right balance that secures the future of the corporation and respects the workers who keep it running. Canadians depend on them to get this right,” Hajdu said.

Canada Post has 45 days to respond with a plan to implement the government’s measures as of the Sept. 25 announcement.

With files from CTVNews.ca and The Canadian Press