As the one-week anniversary of the nationwide Canada Post strike approaches, Okotoks postal workers are committed to continuing the fight.
Members of Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) Local 710 joined 55,000 postal workers across Canada on the picket line last Friday, with those living and working in Okotoks gathering on McRae Street across from the Canada Post office.
CUPW Local 710, encompassing Calgary and surrounding area, has members that are part of Canada Post's urban and rural suburban mail carrier (RSMC) crews, with both groups having separate collective agreements.
"Out here in Okotoks, it's just RSMC," explained one Okotoks employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "We get paid differently than urban and we have no wage protection... the way I describe RSMC to people is we're the cheaper alternative route for Canada Post, because we get paid less than letter carriers, we do more and we use our own vehicles. We don't get company vehicles."
The employee, who said she has been a Canada Post worker in Okotoks for 18 years, said the Crown corporation has significantly cut her compensation.
"They're cutting our benefits, they're cutting our pensions, they want to cut the benefits to the retirees that are retired... then they've increased our workload," she said.
"I've been with the company for 18 years, and after 18 years, I get a huge pay cut. Where do you ever hear that?"
CUPW has called for a cumulative raise of 24 per cent over four years, while Canada Post has offered a wage increase of 11.5 per cent over that time.
"We're fighting for fair wages for all, for wage protection, job protection, health and safety," said the employee.
Health and safety have become prominent issues for mail carriers in light of the increased number of parcels and large packages being ordered through online shopping, she explained.
"It's unsafe for us to try and deliver by ourselves because we work by ourselves," she said. "We don't work in teams and trying to deliver these things, you can get hurt and injured, and then the company blames us for it."
Canada Post reported a $490 million loss during the first half of 2024, continuing a years-long trend compounded by last year's losses of $748 million. Since 2018, the corporation has reported $3 billion in losses.
In the employee's opinion, Canada Post has been irresponsible with financial management.
"Canada Post is crying that they lost money, but they're not telling you that they actually invested that money in the company by building state-of-the-art plants," she said, referring to the $470-million parcel sorting facility opened by Canada Post in 2023.
The impact of the strike has been felt across the community, including small businesses, rural delivery of print newspapers and mailing of letters to the North Pole.
"That's all volunteers that do the Santa letters," said the employee. "Now they're sitting in a bin inside the post office."
