The rotating strikes with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers have arrived in Bordertown.
Members of CUPW Local 128 set up in front of the St. Stephen Post Office today.
President of Local 128 Tony Villeneuve says they are fighting for a number of things, but health and safety is becoming a major issue for them.
He tells us it’s time for Canada Post to address the issue of overburdening mail routes, especially with the increase in parcels from online shopping.
“It’s exploded in the past two or three years and Canada Post is not catching up.”
He says a lot of their workers have been injured on the job, “It’s a big issue for health and safety for us because we end up carrying way more heavier [loads] and Canada Post is not adjusting our routes and making them appropriate.”
Other things the workers are fighting for include equality for all their workers, postal banking, pay for all hours worked, and fair wage increases that are at least going up with the rate of inflation.
Villeneuve says their Local 128 includes all of Charlotte County, from St. Stephen to St. George, Saint Andrews and McAdam, as well as Grand Manan and Campobello Islands.
He says they are on strike with five hundred other postal workers in New Brunswick, which are set up in Fredericton, Woodstock, Miramichi, Acadie-Bathurst, Campbellton and Edmundston.