If there is a postal strike in Canada, you won't see any picket lines on the Sunshine Coast. Coast letter carriers are classified as rural and are not allowed to strike under their current contract.
Urban letter carriers issued 72-hour strike notice on May 30, giving them the right to strike as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday, June 2, if an agreement with Canada Post Corporation (CPC) could not be reached before then. As Coast Reporter went to press Thursday it looked as if a strike was imminent as CPC and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) could not come to any agreement on a new contract.
CUPW Sunshine Coast local 840 president Charlene Penner said that although rural postal workers won't strike, mail from off Coast will not be delivered in the event of a strike, causing a disruption in mail service for locals.
"None of us are going to be on strike, but obviously if the whole rest of the country goes on strike, all the mail that comes in is all handled by members of the urban bargaining unit, so if they're not handling it, it's not coming here and we're not going to be delivering it," said Penner.
Exactly how the strike action would affect mail service on the Coast was unclear as Coast Reporter went to press.
"I can't give you a complete answer at this point," said director of media relations for CPC Anick Losier. "I know that local to local mail may be delivered by rural carriers because the strike would be involving the urban carriers, which are about 48,000 employees. People in rural areas, on the Sunshine Coast, for example, they would be able to triage and sort and deliver the local to local [mail]. So if you sent a wedding invitation to someone in town, I'm told that they would be able to do that, but that would just be very local to local, so within the city. I believe that's what would happen.
"But if there is any CUPW employees at the post office, the post office would close. If it is only rural letter carriers and post masters, then they're in a different union, so they would not be affected, but they would be affected by the fact that there would be very little mail moving."
Penner said that Sunshine Coast post office employees are part of the Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association (CPAA) so they would not be striking with the urban arm of the CUPW.
"Most of them are [part of the CPAA]. There's just a few doing the triaging or sorting of mail that might be CUPW and that's the thing - I don't know which one exactly, so that's why I don't want to give you a definite answer because I might be making a mistake," Losier said. "All I can say is to check with your local post office in the event of a possible work disruption."
Penner said the rural workers' union, which is 7,500 strong, is currently in negotiations with CPC as well, with their eight-year contract expiring at the end of this year. At that time, they will push to become part of the same bargaining unit the urban workers belong to.
"The rural workers only became unionized in 2004 and we thought we were going to be part of that bargaining unit, and then we didn't end up there. But that is part of our goal, that's where we're going. Hopefully when we negotiate at the end of this year, that's what we'll be negotiating for," she said.
She also noted the rural workers stand by their "sisters and brothers" who have served strike notice.
"We support them 100 per cent. I've got my buttons on right now," she said.
For more information on the postal strike, see the CPC's website at www.infopost.ca/customer or the CUPW's website at www.cupw.ca.
