CUPW Local 758 braced for latest fallout amid Canada Post contract dispute

KAMLOOPS — With Canada Post rejecting the union’s proposal to send their labour dispute to binding arbitration, Local CUPW members say Kamloops postal workers are taking the situation day-by-day.

CUPW Local 758 has more than 200 members who cover Kamloops, Chase, Clearwater and other communities in this region, and Vice President Aaron Arseneau says they’re paying close attention to whether a lockout is on the horizon.

“It means status quo for the time being. We are still working. On May 22, the union put in an overtime ban as our strike action so we’re working every day, we’re delivering for Canadians and now we’re just waiting to hear what happens next,” he explains.

The uncertainty is the latest development in what is now a more than 18-month period of a contract dispute between CUPW and Canada Post.

“Every day, I wake up and the first thing I do is check my phone and I look for emails from other union reps to see what has changed and it seems like every day something is changing,” notes Arseneau. “We’re just trying to stay on top of things.”

Canada Post has already asked Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu to force a union membership vote on its latest proposals and, with federal intervention on the table again, Arseneau expects to have a clearer picture of what will happen to the stalled negotiations in the coming days.

“I think we’ll hear back from Patty Hajdu and she might have already said something today. I’m hoping today or tomorrow. And then we’ll know the next steps, whether or not she’s going to force the vote on the contract that Canada Post has put forward — its ‘final offer’ — or whether or not she thinks binding arbitration at this point is the right way to go,” he adds.