The strike by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers entered its 7th day today. Here in Weyburn, the members of the union have braved some less-than-ideal conditions on the picket line. Kerri Arnott-Thirsk is the president of Local 853. She says the weather didn't faze them.
“Well, as postal workers, we're no strangers to difficult weather and so we just layer up, make sure we've got our warmest gear on,” said Arnott-Thirsk. “Sometimes we rely on hand warmers, things like that, but in the grand scheme of things, even though it was cold, we've been out in a lot worse weather, so we were okay. We kept moving and that's what works, stay moving.”
Earlier this week, it was announced the federal government appointed a special mediator to help negotiate a new agreement between Canada Post and the union.
“He was going in between rooms, bringing the sticking issues to each party and I was informed that they made some headway for our rural and suburban issues,” explained the local president. “So, we're hoping to get an urban update relatively shortly.”
Despite the strike, federal and provincial government benefit checks are still being delivered.
“We have a memorandum of agreement with Canada Post and that's to ensure that our community's most vulnerable don't suffer because we're on strike,” Arnott-Thirsk added. “So yesterday, we had volunteers who are paid a $50 honorarium to go out and deliver those checks, so we took them to out to our district as well as here in town and we have a few to finish up today and we'll be starting that at 11.”
Arnott-Thirsk said they have been getting a lot of support from the community while on the picket line so far. This includes being given coffee and donuts along with the usual horn honking.