Canada Put up employees are persevering with their battle for a deal as their strike stretches into its fourth week.
On Wednesday, a whole lot of staff from throughout Ontario and Quebec gathered outdoors Canada Put up headquarters on Riverside Drive in Ottawa, demanding motion.
Pamela Morin, president of Wingham Native 632, says the strike is taking a private toll on employees.
“Some of us are going to lose our homes. Some of us are struggling for our Christmas. Some of us are struggling to put food on the table,” Morin stated.
The battle, she says, is about defending primary rights for tens of hundreds of postal employees. A postal employee’s common wage can vary from roughly $45,000 yearly to $96,000, relying on place and seniority. The payscale is offered on-line.
“A living wage, our pension, our benefits, they’ve all been affected. So it’s been truly a big struggle for 55,000 of us postal workers,” she stated.
Union representatives say it’s time for Canada Put up management to take motion.
“We’re tired of them dragging this out,” stated Mark Platt, Canadian Union of Postal Staff (CUPW) nationwide director for the Ontario area.
“We want to get a negotiated settlement with them, and they’re dragging things out intentionally. So, we’re coming here to give them a message for the board of directors and Mr. Ettinger to get out of his office, get down to the bargaining table, and come to the hotel and get this collective agreement settled with us.”
The disruption can also be hitting companies like Sports4 in Ottawa’s Faculty Sq..
“Right now, the loss of Canada Post has really impacted our sales across Canada,” stated normal supervisor Nathan Kwok.
Kwok says the scenario has made day by day operations tougher and dearer.
“I used to be able to just walk down to the post office and drop everything off, and everything would be done on a daily basis. Now I have to wait for UPS to pick up, and then at times, the UPS process for booking a pickup is also problematic,” Kwok stated. “So, it’s impacted us in terms of how we can deliver service to all of our customers across Canada.”
Again on the picket line, employees like Funmi Olumade say they gained’t again down.
“We want them to be fair to us. We want them to go back to the table. We don’t want legislation. We want negotiation. Let them meet each other. We have dropped some things for them. Let them meet us well,” stated Olumade, a lead hand in retail for Canada Put up.
For Morin, the message is evident.
“We didn’t stay here out this long to not make an impact. We have to make that impact, or we’re never going to make a difference in what we’re working in,” she stated.
