Postal union sets strike deadline of June 2, 2011

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has presented what it calls a “final offer” to the Canada Post Corporation in effort to break an impasse in negotiations to avoid a postal strike.CUPW also issued a strike notice to Canada Post and the Minister of Labour. “If we have not reached a negotiated collective agreement, we will be in a legal position to strike as of 11:59 p.m. EDT on Thursday, June 2nd, 2011,” the CUPW strike notice reads.The Union’s new proposal includes a four-year collective agreement with wage increases of 3.3% as of Feb. 1, 2011 and 2.75% as of Feb. 1 of the following three years of the collective agreement. The new proposal also identifies and asks for resolution of a number of workplace safety and operational issues.