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Postal dispute rages on

Demands unchanged as rotating strikes near one month

Postal workers in Oshawa once again participated in rotating strikes recently as part of the ongoing labour dispute between the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and Canada Post. (Photo by Chris Jones)

By Chris Jones/The Oshawa Express

With rotating strikes still taking place across Canada, Oshawa’s postal workers are once again taking their turn to picket today.

Postal workers in Oshawa previously participated in the rotating strikes on Oct. 29, and as before, picketing postal workers can be found at the Canada Post location on Ritson Road.

Stephen Williams, the president of Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) Local 579, says, “We don’t want to be on strike, of course. We want to be working; we want to be delivering the mail.”

Williams says they’re still getting the same amount of support they were when the strike began, even going so far as to say their support has grown. He has faith in those representing CUPW at the bargaining table.

“We are confident in our national negotiators to do the right thing,” says Williams. “We know they’re sticking strong to the issues that we sent up to them, and we’re happy that they’re taking care of us.”

Williams says health and safety is still the biggest issue for Oshawa

“Apparently our station and the Bowmanville station – which is also part of our local [union] – are two of the highest in the country for injuries on duty.”

John Lawrence, the secretary-treasurer of the Oshawa local CUPW, previously told the Oshawa Express that one in eight letter carriers had a disabling injury last year.

According to Lawrence, workers often suffer from fatigue, exhaustion, back injuries, and various other ailments that can cost them time on the job.In response to the continuing strikes, Canada Post posted the following statement on it’s website: “Canada Post has been working hard to minimize the service impact to Canadians, but the union’s escalating strikes continue to cause backlogs in our national, integrated delivery network. As a result, customers could see delays of several days.”

“Mail and parcels will not be delivered or picked up in impacted areas while the union continues their strike activity. We thank our customers for their continued patience and apologize for the inconvenience this is causing.”

Oshawa joined cities across Ontario such as Orillia, Guelph, Parry Sound and Brantford, as well as cities all over the country by striking today.

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