A labour disruption involving Canada Post will hit the Windsor-Essex area first.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) will start rotating strikes at midnight tonight in Windsor. They will also hit Edmonton, Victoria, B.C. and Halifax. Each strike will last for 24 hours with location striking each day, according to a news release from the CUPW.
The strike plan is contingent on if the union and Canada Post are unable to reach an agreement by midnight tonight.
The union had opted for rotating strikes to minimize the impact of a postal disruption on customers. Mail will still be delivered, although it could be delayed. Negotiations have been going on with Canada Post for almost a year for the Urban Postal Operations and Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers (RSMC) bargaining units.
"Canada Post had the opportunity this weekend to stop any postal disruption on Monday, but instead, as they have for almost a year, they refused to talk about the issues that matter to our members," said CUPW national president Mike Palecek in the news release. "Our goal has always been a negotiated settlement but we will not agree to anything that doesn't address health and safety, gender equality and good, full-time middle-class jobs."
In a statement published on their own official website, Canada Post said they are confident that operations can continue with minimal hassle.
"We value the relationship with the union and have been able to find common ground on some issues and have also committed to work together constructively on several important files," the statement read. "Those include working together to address employees workload concerns caused by parcel growth, additional financial services and going beyond pay equity for Rural and Suburban employees by extending job security and moving to one uniform."
Keep following BlackburnNewsWindsor.com for the latest updates on this story.
