Rotating strikes have hit the Cariboo with 100 Mile House postal workers on strike today as well as other locations across the Cariboo. In the freezing temperatures Jan Allan, Janice Gibbs, Samantha Wall, Kelly Evans and Kristine Bell and dog Bandit were sitting outside the 100 Mile House Post Office this morning.
“We are wanting pay equity, safe working conditions, reduce overburdening,” says Bell.
Gibbs and Bell say it’s also to do with letter carriers, elimination of the two-tier pay system, the double bundle system and Rural Suburban Mail Carriers coverage.
“Normally you go on holidays and you have your person that comes in and covers for you because your job does that. RSMC have to find pay and train their own coverage out of their own pocket to go on any holidays… You shouldn’t have to pay someone out of your own pocket. You shouldn’t have to pay someone to cover your holidays that the company is supposed to give you. It doesn’t make it much of a holiday,” says Bell.
Gibbs says as far as they know they’ll be on strike for 24 hours but it is a fluid situation.
RELATED: Canada Post strike hits Quesnel
“We care about our customers and we want our customers to have the best service and when all of us are stressed out and tired and overworked, that translates into poor service for them too,” says Bell.
According to Canada Post, they have “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.”
They add that 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.”
Canada Post says they remain committed to the bargaining process.
“The Corporation has made significant offers to CUPW that include increased wages, job security, and improved benefits, and it has not asked for any concessions in return.”
The mediator’s mandate was extended by four days to Nov. 10.
“We value the relationship with the union and have been able to find common ground on some issues. We have also committed to work together to address employees’ workload concerns caused by parcel growth, additional financial services and going beyond pay equity for Rural and Suburban employees by extending job security and moving to one uniform for all delivery employees.”
Affected 100 Mile Free Press subscribers who don’t receive their paper today are asked to wait until tomorrow or come to the Free Press office to pick up a copy.
