Why posties picketed a Winnipeg pharmacy in 1987
Postal workers protested over contracting out of services at independent outlets
Soon, Canadians who wanted to buy stamps or mail a package would no longer need to trek to a Canada Post office. And in September 1987, that was enough to prompt the postal union to pull out the picket signs.
There were only three franchised outlets in Canada so far when CBC's The National reported from outside the newest one, inside a Winnipeg pharmacy, on Sept. 19, 1987.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers wanted it to stop there.
"No contracting out!" chanted workers bearing placards as they marched on the sidewalk outside.
As the CBC's Jane Chalmers reported, the pharmacy was "a symbol of what their labour dispute is all about."
Giving away jobs
"They don't care about us. They want to give it away to anybody," said postal worker Gerard Rheault, who had travelled from Rouyn-Noranada, Que., for the demonstration.
The picket was "a preview of what to expect if Canada Post doesn't back down," said the reporter.
"We're certainly not willing to give away our work, give away our jobs," said CUPW President Jean-Claude Parrot, whose union claimed some 4,000 jobs would be lost.
The workers inside the private postal outlets were paid as much as $8 an hour less than union workers. CUPW felt that Canada Post viewed the outlets as "a way to start making money," said Chalmers.
'Another bitter postal strike'?
What was especially galling to the union was that it thought it had won over the issue. The Labour Relations Board had ruled that non-union workers in a Willowdale, Ont., drug mart must be paid the same wage as union staff, but Canada Post was appealing the decision.
A report by a conciliator for the two sides was expected that week, said Chalmers.
"It may suggest a settlement," she said. "It may suggest nothing at all."
"But the report will signal what happens next: another round of negotiations, or another bitter postal strike."
According to the Globe and Mail, 23,000 inside postal workers began a series of rotating strikes at the end of September 1987.
