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Community picket line erected at Canada Post YVR processing centre
Posted December 17, 2024 10:04 am.
Last Updated December 17, 2024 2:16 pm.
Despite a federal order to return to work Tuesday morning, unionized employees remained off the job at a Canada Post processing centre near Vancouver International Airport in Richmond.
A picket line temporarily blocked the entrance, however, it wasn’t the postal union who was there.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO 1130 NEWSRADIO VANCOUVER LIVE!Being described as a “community” picket line, about a half dozen other unionized groups in the region were showing solidarity.
They said they picketed in solidarity with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and told CityNews they were prepared to stay here as long as they could.
A local rep for the postal workers union told CityNews its workers wouldn’t cross the line, and its workers at YVR did not return to work until much later in the day.
The federal labour board ordered about 55,000 striking Canada Post employees back to work as of 8 a.m. Tuesday, after determining that the two sides are at an impasse, bringing a month-long strike to an end.
A member of CUPW, Scotty, told 1130 NewsRadio that the labour board’s return to work order is just “another attack on worker rights.”
“We’ve been out here for a month, and for them to, right before Christmas, tell us we have to go back to work, is incredibly disappointing,” he shared. “They could have done this a while ago, especially with a corporation that, for over a year, has not negotiated in good faith with the union. It’s just incredibly disappointing to have that happen.”
The protester explained the solidarity from other union members in the community is “wonderful.”
“This is the whole point of organized labour — we are all able to get together and fight for workers right, for all of us, not just for one specific union, or all unionized workers, but for all of us,” he explained.
But Scotty’s praise ended there — he said he’s extremely disappointed with all levels of the CUPW union, locally, regionally, and nationally.
“I feel like it’s a bit of a betrayal for us to go back to work now, with our tails between our legs,” he said Tuesday.
“I feel like we had a real opportunity to accomplish something here, and while that window is not completely gone, the fact that we just took it on the chin and went back to work is extremely disappointing.
“I really hope that the members and the leadership review what happened this time over the last month and take it to heart on how they can actually do better to serve the members,” Scotty explained.
In a statement to CityNews, Canada Post shared that it was “welcoming employees back” across the country Tuesday.
“After a protest at the Vancouver Pacific Processing Plant on Ferguson Road that delayed entry this morning, employees have now started entering the building and are at work, joining their colleagues across the city,” Canada Post said just after 12:30 p.m.
Despite the back to work order, the Crown corporation and the union remain at odds on contract talks.
As operations get back up to speed, Canada Post says delays can be expected into the new year.
The picket line was dismantled in the early afternoon without the involvement of police.
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With files from Mike Lloyd.
