Liverpool post office goes on strike

The rolling postal strikes hit Liverpool today, closing the post office for 24 hours.

Members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers were on the picket lines starting early on the morning, on the corner of Main and Market streets.

Mike McDonald, speaking on behalf of the Liverpool office, says the biggest issues are over health and safety and no overtime pay for delivery workers.

“We’ve got five times the injury rate of federal employees, and that includes longshoreman,” he says. “ We need to make sure our health and safety are being addressed.”

Canada Post and the union representing the workers have been at the negotiating table for 10 months, but so far have unable to reach a deal. Since Oct. 22, postal workers have gone on rolling strikes, closing locations for 24 hours while union members walk the picket line. At first the strikes were at the larger urban centres, but as the weeks have gone by without a deal, the strikes have spread further around the country.

CUPW has called on a national overtime ban for both of its major bargaining units at Canada Post. While the negotiations are underway postal workers will not work more than an eight-hour day and not more than a 40-hour week.

The federal government has appointed a mediator to help with negotiations.

Liverpool Post Office workers picket on Nov. 8.