Canada Post employee support for the two-week old nationwide strike appears to be waning with a growing number of disgruntled workers lashing out against their union for the action one mail carrier described as ‘short-sighted.’
The Star spoke with six Canada Post employees from across the country, with workers reporting they resisted the strike from the outset and regard it as fruitless.
All six, fearing retribution from either the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) or Canada Post, were granted anonymity to speak freely.
The union did not respond in time for deadline to an emailed query for comment.
“We’ve shot ourselves in the foot,” said one Vancouver Island mail carrier. “You’ve just taken away our income, you’re p—-ing off everyone that did support us.”
The workers all said the union’s snap decision to walk off the job has divided members with many wanting to stay on the job during negotiations to keep a pay cheque coming in.
Others spoke of the harm they were doing to the Crown corporation’s business and the public’s trust.
On Sept. 25, just hours after Ottawa greenlit a major restructuring of Canada Post — including an end to home mail delivery — CUPW members in Atlantic Canada began walking off the job. Shortly after that, union leadership announced a nationwide strike.
Some said that despite Canada Post’s mismanagement, a restructuring is inevitable, and that CUPW’s demands — a 19 per cent wage hike and opposing an end to home delivery — are out of step with both reality.
“I think the union, the National Executive and the negotiators are delusional in thinking we’re going to win,” said a 56-year-old mail carrier from Fredericton, N.B. “We just want to work. Let the two sides fight it out, and just let us work and get the mail moving.”
He added that only a dozen out of the 100 people at his depot are manning a picket line.
A rural and suburban mail carrier on Vancouver Island said many fellow workers think the union’s decision to call for an immediate national strike was used to cover up the Atlantic worker walkout and to mask a lack of unity at CUPW.
As one of the 30 per cent of postal workers who voted yes to Canada Post’s contract offer in May, he said he thought the union demand for a 19 per cent wage increase was asking too much, and that a transition to community mailboxes from home delivery is more efficient.
He was also disappointed to see that the corporation’s September offer was worse than the previous one, and he hoped that if layoffs were to happen, they could at least be carried out through attrition.
“It’s a short-sighted decision,” said the Vancouver Island carrier of the strike. The failure of the month-long strike last November shows Canada Post was unwilling to negotiate then, so why would it do so now, he added.
A 45-year-old letter Guelph carrier, who voted no to the May offer and opposes an end to home delivery, said he is worried the strike will drive more people to use electronic mail and harm the Crown corporation’s bottom line.
“If fewer people use mail,” he said “it’s more of a reason for Canada Post to downsize.”
In Maple, Ont., a 40-year-old carrier echoed those sentiments, and believed “going on strike would not accomplish anything besides hurting ourselves.”
The carrier, who voted no on the May contract, said wages are a low priority for him and many others.
His main issues with the May offer include that employees who gain full-time status would have to wait six months before they could contribute to a defined contribution pension plan, as opposed to the current defined benefit plan.
He also disagrees with Canada Post’s intention to hire “gig workers” for weekend shifts, and believes that the proposed use of “dynamic routing,” which alters workers’ routes daily to accommodate changes in volume, seems like a way to punish employees who are more efficient at their jobs.
Some told the Star they are ready to take the current offer or enter arbitration.
A 38-year-old Saskatoon letter carrier said that while he abstained from voting on the May offer, he would accept the September one.
“I think it’s pretty evident that we’re not going to get a better deal.”
A 55-year-old Guelph postal worker, who has been with Canada Post for 15 years, said part of her wish is for the government to order her back to work and send the negotiations into arbitration.
“Something has to give,” she said. “I worry that we’re going to go bankrupt, and everything is going to be gone.”
