The Shawinigan postman may have had difficulty, on Monday, putting the exact words to his dismay at a return to forced labor, but for him, it is a return with a bitter taste that is coming, as for the 300 letter carriers from Mauricie.
“I try to tell myself that I must deliver top-notch work tomorrow despite this state. But I come back for the clients because I love that part of my job. For the rest, we are facing an employer who has no respect for employees,” he confides.
Postwoman Michèle Brûlé says she stands in solidarity with her colleagues. (Amélie Houle/Le Nouvelliste)
For her colleague in the Lac-à-la-Tortue sector, Michèle Brûlé, the feeling is also mixed with less than 24 hours of returning to work.
“It’s a feeling of treachery. It’s really not sweet, it’s bitter because we would have liked the management side to be there to negotiate and ultimately, they put it in the minister’s court.”
Demonstration in front of Minister Champagne’s office
Like a hundred colleagues, Alain Robitaille and Michèle Brûlé gathered in Shawinigan Monday morning in front of the offices of the federal Minister of Industry, François-Philippe Champagne.
“We wanted to make the government understand that all the actions they are going to take against workers have no place. We had a free negotiation which was continuing, we understand that it was not happening quickly and that the government had a lot of pressure, but on the other hand, we are violating the rights of workers now,” the president mentioned from the outset. from the Mauricie local section of the Postal Workers Union, Éric Savary.
The postmen were noisy on Monday in front of Minister Champagne’s office. (Amélie Houle)
However, Minister Champagne was not present Monday morning, having left for Ottawa early in the morning to attend the economic update.
Recall that the Minister of Labor, Steven MacKinnon, asked the CIRB on Friday to order the return to work of the 55,000 employees on strike if he judged that a resolution of the labor conflict could not occur before the end of the year.
Éric Savary confirms, for his part, that he heard this message at the same time as the population, last Friday.
“The decision already imposes part of the negotiation, namely the salary increase. But this means that we still lose our negotiating power. It’s sad, the employees are a little angry about that, but they will come back to work and will carry out their task professionally.”
— Éric Savary, president of the Mauricie local section of the Postal Workers Union
Possible resumption of negotiations in May
While the 55,000 employees who have been on strike for four weeks will all return to work on Tuesday, negotiations should only resume in May, it is confirmed.
“What we were told was that we were putting negotiations on hold until May and at that time, if we want to resume pressure tactics, we will be able to do so. But for us, the targeted period was the busiest, so I don’t think the postmen will want to come out a second time next May,” laments the president of the union.
For postman Alain Robitaille, this decision removes, according to him, the balance of power of the union members.
“Me, returning to deliver Publisacs which are super heavy on my back, I fear for my future and my retirement because employers have absorbed an industry which is immense.”
— Alain Robitaille, postman from Shawinigan
“So it’s hard to say that the future is bright, especially since the 55,000 workers are coming back with the same conditions as before and they won’t have a say. It’s heavy to carry,” he concludes.
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