CORNWALL, Ontario – Canada Post employees were on the picket lines in Cornwall on Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018.
Canada Post has been on a national rotation of strikes since late October.
Workers are represented by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW). Stephane Rioux, president of the local CUPW chapter, CUPE 522, said that the strike was about health and safety and better wages.
“We’ve been without a contract since January, 2018,” he said. “Right now we are focusing on better and safer working conditions.”
Rioux explained how when delivering mail, letter carriers are expected to carry two bundles, which does not leave their hands free when climbing stairs or opening doors.
The strike began in Cornwall at 8 a.m. on Wednesday and would continue until 8 a.m. on Thursday.
There will be no mail delivery in Cornwall until 8 a.m. Thursday. The Canada Post office on Second St. W. will also be closed until Thursday.
Letters and packages can still be dropped off at the Canada Post wicket at the Cornwall Square in Shoppers Drug Mart, but those items will not be picked up until 8 a.m. Thursday at least.
