In the latest phase of the industrial dispute, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has called for a national overtime ban for both bargaining units at Canada Post commencing tonight (1 November) at midnight.

According to the CUPW postal workers and letter delivery staff at Canada Post are not going to work more than an eight hour day or more than 40 hours a week.

“We’ve had it. Overburdening, overtime and overwork are all major issues in this round of bargaining,” says CUPW National President Mike Palecek. “Until Canada Post negotiators’ address it, we can solve it for ourselves in the meantime,” he adds.

“This is a health and safety issue rooted in poor staffing. We refuse to be injured any longer by a management team that cares more about the bottom line than sky-rocketing injury rates.”

The dispute is over an expired, collective agreement that allowed Canada Post to demand mandatory overtime to certain postal workers that include letter delivery staff.

“As our routes get longer and longer, our bodies are breaking down.” He continued “This ends today.