Not even the local CUP-W union rep in Quesnel knows the answer to that question.
Derek Bergeron says the decision will be made in Ottawa, who will in turn contact BC’s regional office in New Westminster, who will then let them know.
And Bergeron says there isn’t a lot of notice…
“In Vancouver some people didn’t find out til within an hour before they went, whether they were just not available or not i’m not sure, and Prince George found out I believe late Sunday night they were going out Monday at noon.”
Bergeron says the biggest issues in this dispute are health and safety and gender equity.
On health and safety, he says the time values for carriers just hasn’t kept up with an increase in parcel volumes…
“In particular with the carriers. Their jobs are all measured per time. Some of these rates are seven or eight years old, and they’re counting on ten or twelve parcels a day, when these carriers are carrying upwards of 80 or a hundred. People are carrying more and bigger parcels and to more houses each day and there is more opportunities for injuries and fatigue and such. Fortunately we’ve been lucky here in Quesnel, we haven’t seen the extremes in forced overtime like some places have. Quite often it’s usual for carriers to be expected to work a twelve hour day. And in December when it’s dark and snowy you don’t really want to be out there for twelve hours when you’re supposed to be working an eight hour day.”
He says the focus on wages is mostly just to catch up rural carriers and with letter carriers in town.
There are roughly 40 unionized postal workers in Quesnel and around the same in the Williams Lake local, which also includes 100 Mile House.