TORONTO — Canada Post administration and technical staff went on strike early today in a dispute over disability and family-leave benefits.
The 2,100 members of the Union of Postal Communications Employees include counter staff, technical support and other support positions.
Canada Post issued a statement late yesterday saying mail delivery would not be affected by the walkout, which follows a breakdown of negotiations last week.
However, union president Richard Desaulniers, who was picketing at Canada Post headquarters in Ottawa, said he expected delivery to eventually be affected by the strike.
“We are planning to slow down the mail delivery and put pressure on the employers to return to the table with a decent offer to end this quickly.”
The key issue in the dispute is a proposed rollback in sick leave provisions, Desaulniers said.
“The employer is proposing a short-term disability plan which would eliminate our current sick leave credits as well as family-related leave provisions that we’ve had for over 10 years,” he said. “The employer wants to replace that with a short-term program that doesn’t provide the same protection.”
In a statement, Canada Post said its “final offer” included a short-term disability program that includes income protection for all employees, plus a 2.5 per cent wage increase in the first two years of a four-year contract and a further 2.75 per cent in the final two years.
Desaulniers said the offer has not yet been presented to the union bargaining team.
“They gave that (offer) through the mediator,” he said.
A spokesman for Canada Post said the mediator confirmed that the offer was presented to the union’s chief negotiator last night.
Some of the first picket lines appeared early today in Ottawa, Halifax, Antigonish and Sydney in Nova Scotia, in St. John’s, N.L., in Fredericton and Saint John, N.B.