For the second time, rotating Canada Post strikes has come to Chatham-Kent.
Postal workers walked off the job around the municipality just after midnight, along with union members in St Thomas, Woodstock, and at delivery facilities in Scarborough.
The rotating strikes are now into their fifth week and have touched virtually every Canada Post facility and every Canadian address so far.
Yesterday, the union rejected a proposed “cooling off” period followed by mediation that would have brought an end to all strike activity until January.
Officials with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers says it would prefer to settle the dispute through collective bargaining.
“We know customers are frustrated, and we are as well.” CUPW Local 514 steward Jeremy Suitor says. “We’re all customers as well, and we just want to make sure our working conditions are safe and everyone’s being paid for the time they’re putting in.”
Canada Post is warning commercial customers that it is not able to honour its delivery standards for any product because of prolonged and ongoing rotating strikes.
While there will be delays across the country, the corporation expects the worst delays for mail and parcels will be for items that originate or are destined for southern and southwestern Ontario.