a1 Pen dan, = TILT iL j - | | July 1, 1987 40° Vol. 50, No. 25 Sphinalt Mediation | camp’ — after gov't blamed for postal dispute a Rankin The federal government has knuckled — page 2 — under and appointed a mediator to settle the letter carriers’ strike — but rotating walkouts will continue, Letter Carriers Union of Canada leaders have declared. “If there’s any progress at the bargaining table, we might consider calling them off — but not until then,” said Ray Andrus, business agent for LCUC’s District 9. | | | Ottawa’s announcement that it was appointing mediator Bill Kelly to the dis- pute followed a weekend report on the results of an Angus Reied-Southam News poll that showed a majority of Canadians held the government at least partly respon- sible for the two-week old strike. And, showing they are ahead of the - major political parties in assessing the rea- sons for the bitter dispute, a majority of those polled said they did not consider the strike an.attempt by the Mulroney govern- ment to draw attention away from its sag- ging public image. Instead, most placed the blame where it belongs: on the federal government’s edict that Canada Post become self-sufficient — aeuphemism for severe cutbacks in pos- tal service and gradual moves towards pri- vatization of the publicly owned service. Mediation was a solution called for by trade unions, Canada Post and the opposi- tion parties in Parliament, but rejected as recently as last Thursday by Labour Minis- ter Pierre Cadieux. “Now (Prime Minister Brian) Mulroney is saying yes— and I say Mulroney because he’s obviously the boss,” said Andrus in an interview. Of the unresolved issues left after days of fruitless bargaining, two key issues stand out as the ones by which Canada Post hopes to save millions of dollars and eliminate letter carriers’ jobs. “That’s cars and straight through,” said Andrus, “And there’s no way we’re going to buy that.” Canada Post is sticking to its demand that postal workers use their own vehicles on their routes, reducing in time the corpo- ration’s fleet of postal vehicles and the costs it pays for public transit and taxis. And the Crown corporation is demand- ing carriers work straight through their shifts instead of returning to the depot for lunch, and the elimination of some 32 min- utes in time currently alloted for coffee breaks, washup and fatigue. “With those changes, they’d save a tre- mendous amount of money. They’d also make postal walks longer, and we’d lose one postie for every eight jobs,” said Andrus. Letter carriers were off the job in Mont- real and two other Quebec centres Monday, but Canada Post did not call in scab workers that time. ing to guide a scab-driven truck through the picket line at the Union leaders interpret this as a sign the Striking letter carriers confront management nie of yates walkouts hit Vancouver forthe secondtimeon | Corporation and the government which main post office as the Letter Carriers Union 0 day, letter carriers applaud after turning back a truck, their line bolstered by holds ae purse strings are flinching from the Friday, June 26 (above). In Kamloops the nau tana # Public Employees, during their lunch break. Striking carriers linked public’s condemnation. But in other ways, insid bers of the Canadian ; i hn Harper, at the Dalhousie post office to prevent Canada Post is continuing its heavy- Sires Gsts ive oil of Kanone end District Labour Council president John Harper, Ke e handetiness. Scab trucks from entering. see TWO LEVELS page 8 FISHERMAN PHOTO — JIM SINCLAIR TRIBUNE PHOT — BILL CAMPBELL ——