Back to work order frustrates Sask. Canada Post employees

Canada Post workers were angry and frustrated on the picket line Monday.

Workers knew that while walking on the picket line on Dec. 16 they would be heading back to the office the next day. The Government of Canada asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to intervene and order Canada Post employees back to work.

The move comes despite the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and postal workers not reaching a new collective bargaining agreement.

“I thought the federal government made it evidently clear that they were going to let collective bargaining happen and was very disheartened to hear that the federal government went back on their word and collective bargaining and unions really don’t matter anymore,” said Matt Hood, who works at the north depot Canada Post office in Saskatoon.

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He said those on the picket line were very disgruntled to learn they’d be going back to work knowing things wouldn’t be any different from when they left.

“We feel like the last four weeks have been for naught. We still feel that our health and safety is our top priority. Nothing’s changing and our safety, our health, does not matter,” Hood explained.

Brahm Enslin is the president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Saskatoon Local 824 and doesn’t think the order from the federal government to go back to work is legitimate.

Canada Post workers on the picket line were angry on Monday as they were told last week the federal government is forcing them back to work despite no new deal being reached between the company and union. (Shane Clausing/650 CKOM)

“First of all, I’m completely disappointed that this has gone this way. We’re not even sure that it’s fully legal what the minister has done here. I’m disappointed to see that they worked in lockstep with the corporation to allow people to sit on the strike lines for four weeks and then just do what we thought they were going to anyway,” Enslin said.

“Every single person that’s out here is dismayed to hear that this is what’s happened. They’ve been out here for four weeks and just to have this happen people are upset. They can’t believe this has happened,” Enslin added.

“They can’t believe a minister has come in and just extended a collective agreement – which is supposed to be collectively bargained in which the corporation has decided not to move on whatsoever.”

Hood doesn’t think the move by the federal government and Canada Post has anything to do with Christmas being less than 10 days away.

“I feel this is more of an attack on our collective bargaining and towards unions, rather than just being over the Christmas season. If you look over the past year, they’ve ordered five different unions back to work,’ Hood said.

“This isn’t just an attack on it being Christmas, this is an attack on unions.”

When it comes to getting Christmas packages on time, Enslin couldn’t give any timeline for when people’s packages could get to their destination.

“I’ll just say the mail has not flown like it had in the past when we’ve had rotating strikes. So, therefore, any kind of stoppage would receive a backlog. The mail has been shut down. The plant hasn’t been running,” he explained.

Enslin didn’t want to comment directly on what their delivery model could look like for Christmas as he feels the order from the federal government is illegitimate.