If necessary, Windsor Canada Post workers are ready to strike

Over 90 per cent of Canada Post workers have voted in favour of strike action if it comes to that, according to Phil Lyons, president of Local 630, which representsover 475 postal workers in the Windsor area.

Results released by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers show that 93.8 per cent of urban workers voted in favour, if needed, and 95.9 per cent of rural and suburban mail carriers voted yes as well.

The union and Canada Post have been in negotiations since December 2017, and since then, there have been more than 100 meetings since the start of negotiations, according to Lyons.

Hesaid in an email to CBC they will be responding to an offer from Canada Postlikely later this week, but they hope that "a strike or lockout can be averted as [their] parcel business is booming."

The vote started late August, after the union felt Canada Post wasn't taking the ongoing negotiations seriously.

In anews release on Monday, Canada Post saidthey tabled offers this past Friday, which "include increases in pay and improvements in benefits, rather than a focus on reducing costs."

Union's demands

One of the things the union wants is a social steward program to help workers with their mental health.

"It's putting a lot of pressure on their families. We have a lot of mental health issues, had quite a few suicides," said Lyons.

However, in the offer that Canada Post tabled, he said there was no mention of the steward program.

Other things the union is looking for include improvements to services like postal banking and making post offices greener by introducing hybrid vehicles in their fleet are also on the table.

Health and safety improvements as well as forced overtime are also on the list. The union wants safeguards in place so members can not be required to do it.

"That Tecumseh depot has just been horrific for years. They're working anywhere from 55 to 65 hours a week, and that's not what they signed up for," he said.

The voting period for the workers continued for three weeks and wrapped up earlier this month.