Will canada post strike start this November IF it's really happening?
Summary: lud-4367 expressed concern over the possibility of a Canada Post strike following the Canadian Union of Postal Workers filing notices of dispute. They are worried about the potential impact on parcel deliveries during the holiday shopping period and are proactively seeking advice on how to prepare. fergua3 shares their past experiences with postal strikes, noting that previous strikes were disruptive but the government eventually intervened. They believe a strike is unlikely at Christmas this year. ypdc_dennis confirms that the last postal strike occurred in 2018 and mentions a recent negotiation in 2021. hansatrade raises the issue of counterfeit stamps, suggesting it should be addressed before any strike action. mrdutch1001 and reallynicestamps seem relatively unfazed by the potential for a strike, pointing out alternative services and discussing the typical dynamics of postal strikes.
I'm pretty sure most of you received the message from canada post with a headline, Canadian Union of Postal Workers requests conciliators in filing notices of dispute with the Minister of Labour. It made me gasped because I just dropped off a parcel today, but then based on their process time frame, I don't think I need to worry about it at the moment. It looks like there are at least 3 or 4 months left, and they are aiming for holiday shopping period which starts November. I have a zero intention to sell anything during the canada post strike. The buyers somehow think they deserve freebies when postal workers delay the deliveries. Yes, we don't if it's happening or not yet, but I just want to prepare for the worst. What would you do to prepare for the strike?
• The Minister is required to appoint a conciliator within 15 days.
• Once a conciliator is appointed, the parties enter a conciliation period typically lasting at least 60 days. The conciliation period can be extended if the parties agree.
• After the conciliation period, if there is still no agreement, a 21-day cooling-off period follows.
• Only after the cooling-off period would either party be in a position to initiate a labour disruption (72-hour advance notice must first be given).
• Negotiations can continue throughout this entire process.
reallynicestamps
·2 years agoThe workers tend to go for rotating strikes, which are more annoying than debilitating, because strike pay is a lot lower than regular pay, never mind that holiday overtime.
Then management locks them all out.
And blames the workers.
mrdutch1001
·2 years agoHave seen the strikes, the lockouts, the walkouts et all over the decades...and if it happens it happens...nothing I am going to need to do "to prepare for the strike"...
We all know there are alternatives to CP that we can use IF and WHEN needed. I don't list anything on eBay after end of November thru to after Christmas, so I have nothing to worry about!
Cheers!
hansatrade
·2 years agoMaybe before announcing another suicidal strike, they should do something with counterfeit Chinese CP stamps? They can be purchased everywhere, FB is plenty of the ads...
fergua3
·2 years agoi've lived through a few strikes, so have some experience with them. The previous CP strike was right at Christmas time. Deliberately. There was literally worldwide condemnation of it, even by other postal unions, but they went ahead with it anyway. Was very disruptive but after a few weeks the gov't legislated them back to work, but by then the damage had been done as they didn't get back to work until 3 or 4 days before Christmas.
After all the bad publicity and negatvie reaction the union got from a Christmas strike, i really doubt they would do it again. They did themselves no favours, believe me.
All that said, the strikes usually start off slowly, with one or two processing centers, so it just slows down mail a bit. As the days and weeks drag on, the strike builds with whole provinces and then whole regions striking for a few days at a time (rotating strikes). While these disrupt and slow mail, things still do get through.
The problem is CP management inevitably locks out the workers and that brings CP to a halt.
I suspect there will not be a strike at Christmas. The union will start threatening it but it usually takes weeks before any action is taken, so i think it more likely it will start just after Christmas, if it happens at all.
As i recall last strike, most of the union workers did not want to strike as they counted on extra money they make at Christmas, but the union boss went ahead with it (he is since gone and has been replaced, to my understanding).
If a strike happens some people will tell you to just use courier services in the meantime. That is NOT a viable option. First off, courier services are far more expensive in most cases and secondly, courier services have, every strike, turned away business from new people because they are overwhelmed and don't want to degrade the service they give to their exisitng customer base. Using couriers during a postal strike is akin to taking taxis during a public transit strike.....far more expensive and good luck finding a cab.
lud-4367
OP2 years agoI don't have much of knowledge on this, but don't they usually vote to strike or not?
ypdc_dennis
·2 years agoLast postal strike was 2018.
Rotating strikes from October to end of November when workers were legislated back to work.
Previous postal negotiations was 2021 with a 2 year extension being ratified.