Edmonton postal workers set to deliver cheques

Locked out Canada Post workers say they will deliver federal and provincial government cheques on Monday.

Bev Ray, president of the Edmonton branch of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, said more than 200 volunteers have already been working to get the cheques out to people in the capital region.

Postal workers on Friday sorted federal pension and disability cheques, provincial social assistance cheques and payments for those receiving Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped. Volunteer letter carriers will then deliver those cheques Monday.

“There are thousands and thousands of cheques,” Ray said Sunday morning. “The volunteers will be crossing the picket lines and going in and getting this done.”

Canada Post employees started rolling strikes across the country about two weeks ago. On Tuesday, the agency locked out about 50,000 employees and suspended operations across the country.

However, CUPW pledged to make sure the cheques were delivered under a national agreement reached before the lockout.

“The union has always had a strong position in terms of social commitment,” Ray said. “We’re talking about senior citizens. We’re talking about the most vulnerable people in society.”

The union recruited volunteers to get the cheques out.

The federal government served notice on Wednesday that it intends to introduce back-to-work legislation to end the labour dispute. The decision comes after about seven months of unsuccessful negotiations between Canada Post and the union.

The federal legislation expected this week would force the two sides to settle the dispute using an arbitrator.

Meanwhile, the United States Postal Service on Friday stopped processing all mail to Canada, saying it will re-start the practice once Canada Post resumes operations.