Canada Post workers striking in Red Deer for fair wages, more respect

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“We want Canada Post to bargain with our negotiating committee to obtain a fair collective agreement, fair wages, and respect in the workplace,” says Local president Barbara Lilly, who’s been a rural suburban mail carrier since 2009.

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“Rural suburban mail carriers, which deliver to the community mailboxes, aren’t paid for the hours worked,” she explains. “Sometimes we’re putting in 11 hour days and we get paid for seven to eight hours. We have no overtime. We have no paid breaks. Letter carriers are overburdened. They’re walking more than 20 kilometres per day. Their routes are assessed at maybe eight to 10 parcels a day and sometimes they’re getting up to 80.”

Lilly says the conditions are putting a lot of unnecessary wear and tear on employees’ bodies, forcing many of them to work modified duties.

“I’ve had my share of issues. I’ve had to go off for surgeries, had a sore back and sore shoulders, but especially the shoulders due to the rotation cases because it’s very repetitive,” she says. “As a rural suburban mail carrier, Canada Post doesn’t really offer any modified duties, and letter carriers are limited to their modified duties, so that needs to be improved.”

Lilly says at the end of the day, the public should know that workers value being able to serve customers and that they’d rather not have disruptions.

“I love going out and talking to the people. Letter carriers are very fortunate in that they have more one-on-one contact with the customers,” she says. “We offer the neighbourhood watch program without it being part of our job. We’re aware of our customers, what their limitations are. It’s proven that letter carriers, by going door-to-door, they get to know their customers, so if there’s any absence for one or two days, they step in and make sure the customer is fine.”

Rotating strikes are also happening Thursday in Calgary and Sherbrooke, Quebec.

The strikes do not affect Canada Post outlets located inside grocery and drug stores.