Rotating postal strike reaches North Bay

The series of 24-hour rotating strikes at Canada Post has reached North Bay.

Members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers locally walked off the job this morning.

Keith Bradford, President of the CUPW North Bay Local, says the message to Canada Post is get to the negotiating table and talk.

He says safety is a key issue for their members, but so too is service expansion.

“Not only keeping the service that we have, but expanding it to everybody. North Bay and our community has been very, very clear that we want to keep our Posties and we want to keep the service, and improve the service, so let’s get cracking here,” he says.

Bradford says Canada Post service has changed.

He says North Bay used to have sorting operations locally, but that’s not the case anymore.

“Now what Canada Post has done over the last few years is centralize everything in Toronto. So if you want to send me a letter from your office on Main Street to my office on Worthington, it goes to Toronto. Five days later I’ll get your letter,” he says.

Bradford also points out if someone downtown has to pick-up a parcel, they have to go to the outlet on Josephine because Canada Post doesn’t have the service at their main office.

“That’s not the way it needs to be, that’s just the way Canada Post has made it. In order to change this and get it back to the service everybody knows and wants and expects, we’re at the negotiating table right now trying to get that,” he says.

Upwards of 150 workers from North Bay local joined their fellow workers from Hamilton and a couple of communities in Quebec, who went on strike early today.

(Photo submitted)