DO ROTATING STRIKES WORK?

DO ROTATING STRIKES WORK?

Canada is currently in the middle of a rotating postal strike. This means that each day that the strike continues mail delivery will be curtailed to four or five Canadian cities for 24 hours. The next day, different cities will be targeted for a day and the rotation could go on ad infinitum. I personally don’t think that rotating strikes are very effective. They cause some minor disruption to service but they do not put a lot of pressure on Canada Post to really resolve the strike issues.

My memory does not recall the rotating strike strategy, except in recent times. In days of yore, a strike was a strike. My Dad was a miner and if the UMWA went on strike, every mine in the country went on strike. There was no 24 hour work stoppage. It was a “s_it or get off the pot” strategy whereby the miners said we are not going to work until we have a new contract. 

This all-or-nothing approach was quite ruthless. Miners, who were basically poorly paid, suffered extreme personal and financial hardship if the mines were closed for any length of time. There were no government handouts and most miners lived from pay check to pay check. Mining companies could not fill orders and they suffered financially as well as the workers. It was a no-win situation for both employee and employer. Consequently, most strikes were settled fairly soon after they were called. A full fledge strike was a serious step for all concerned, but it did bring about a solution. 

The rotating strikes we see today are more of a sparring match, than an all out fight. Postal workers do not want to suffer the financial losses of a real strike and Canada Post knows that. As a result, the government is prepared to accept a little criticism from the few cities hit by strikes, and the backlog of undelivered mail that piles up. They would claim that it is the postal workers who have created the problem and not Canada Post.

Postal workers are asking for salary increases to keep up with the rapidly rising cost of living. There has been a huge increase in package delivery that has resulted from thousands of people who shop online and expect delivery by Canada Post. This new issue has increased the workload of mail sorters and mailmen significantly. Parcel delivery is now a large part of the mailman’s job. As with most strikes there are always two sides to every issue. Hopefully, the rotating strategy will help resolve the issues. I’m not holding my breath!

Do you favour the rotating strike or the full fledge walkout or even a ban on strikes for essential services altogether?