Canadian postal workers have voted in favour of strike action, with the union president saying members are overworked.<\/p>\n
Strike votes were held at locals across the country between Aug. 7 and Sept. 9,\u00a0with 93.8 per cent of urban postal operations workers and 95.9 per cent of rural and suburban mail carriers voting to walk out if an agreement can’t be reached with Canada Post.<\/p>\n
That could happen as early as Sept. 26.<\/p>\n
“Over the last decade, the working conditions of all our members has deteriorated, leaving many overburdened, with little time for their home life,” said Mike Palacek, president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, in a statement Tuesday that released\u00a0the vote results.<\/p>\n
The union said\u00a0an “explosion of parcel volumes” has been a huge burden,\u00a0and\u00a0mail carriers need guaranteed minimum hours and job security.<\/p>\n
The union says about 8,000 rural and suburban letter carriers, who are mostly female, earn at least 25 per cent less than their urban colleagues, who are largely male. Negotiations\u00a0began in November 2017.\u00a0The collective agreement for the rural and suburban letter carriers expired Dec. 31, 2017, while the collective agreement for the urban postal operations unit, which has 42,000 members,\u00a0expired Jan. 31, 2018.<\/p>\n