Canada Put up employees have launched into a nationwide strike after the federal authorities authorised widespread reforms that will shut some put up places of work and finish sure varieties of deliveries.
The Canadian Union of Postal Staff (CUPW) referred to as the proposed reforms an “assault on our postal service and employees” because it introduced the job motion.
The strike by the union’s 55,000 members comes amid an ongoing dispute over pay and advantages for postal employees that resulted in a weeks-long walkout late final yr.
Canada Put up mentioned operations will shut down through the strike, leaving mail and parcels undelivered for thousands and thousands and including it will compound the company’s already dire monetary woes.
The sweeping modifications introduced by the federal authorities follows years of monetary losses sustained by the postal service, which faces diminished demand and stiff competitors from personal parcel supply providers.
Procurement minister Joël Lightbound mentioned on Thursday that Canada Put up misplaced C$1bn ($717; £535m) final yr and is on monitor to lose C$1.5bn this yr.
“Canada Put up is successfully bancrupt, and repeated bailouts will not be a long-term answer,” he mentioned in a press release.
The proposed modifications will see the closure of a number of put up places of work in areas that have been as soon as rural and provides the service extra flexibility to lift costs. The service may additionally scale back the varieties of parcels delivered by air and rely extra on floor transportation to save lots of prices.
One important proposal shall be ending dwelling deliveries, which can see parcels delivered to neighborhood mailboxes as an alternative of in entrance of individuals’s doorways.
An estimated 4 million addresses nonetheless obtain that service within the nation.
“The aim, in the end, is to save lots of Canada Put up,” Lightbound instructed reporters.
The postal employees union mentioned the proposals “will solely undermine public service” and never deal with the wants of consumers.
Canada Put up mentioned it was “upset that the union selected to escalate their strike exercise, which can additional deteriorate Canada Put up’s monetary scenario.”
“A nationwide strike of any size will influence service to Canadians and companies properly after the strike exercise ends,” it added.
In a press release on Friday, the Canadian Affiliation of Unbiased Enterprise warned the influence of the job motion on the nation’s small companies could be “huge”.
“Doing this within the lead-up to the vital vacation retail transport season is particularly troubling,” it mentioned.
Authorities social safety cheques will proceed to be delivered through the strike.
Final yr, employees launched into a weeks-long strike over pay and improved working situations.
Negotiations on the pay dispute stay unresolved.
