NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
The territorial government has stopped sending mail in light of the nationwide rotating Canada Post strike and is asking residents to pick up their packages at various locations.

Federation of Labour president Mary Lou Cherwaty says Canada Post is trying to implement a two-tiered system. - NNSL file photo

No matter where the strike is taking place in the country, the GNWT will not be putting its packages in the mail for fear they will be left at the post office where residents can't reach them, said Earl Blacklock, spokesperson for the Department of Transportation.

"It's in place whether they're rotating or whether they're on full strike until the deal is made," he said. "We didn't want to get driver's licences and the like caught in the mail, so we stopped mailing a week before (the strike)."

In Fort Smith, Fort Simpson, Yellowknife and Inuvik, GNWT offices will be holding important packages, like driver's licences, general identification cards and paycheques for recipients to pick up.

Licences and identification cards will be available at the issuing office. The Department of Transportation is advising applicants to pick up their card 21 days after applying for a driver's licence or general identification card.

For communities without an issuing office, the department has a toll free number on its website, for residents to call to make alternative arrangements, said Blacklock.

Paycheques can be obtained at local Department of Finance offices, while income assistance, student financial assistance and child care user subsidy cheques can be picked up at Department of Education, Culture and Employment offices.

Government issued identification is required when obtaining personal packages.

In communities without department offices, the GNWT has developed contingency plans to help residents receive their government mail. Cheques will be flown in and distributed by other organizations, said Gloria Iatridis, assistant deputy minister for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment.

"Where we don't have full-time client service officers, we have set up service contracts with either the local band or a local organization."

People receiving government cheques by direct deposit will not be affected by the change, she said.

"They will continue to receive their benefits the same way that they have in the past."

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers began rotating strikes across the country on June 3. Yellowknife had its 24-hour strike Thursday, after receiving notice it would be next on the list, along with 12 other communities elsewhere in Canada, Wednesday evening.

The union's main concern is that Canada Post wants a 30 per cent reduction in pay for new Canada Post workers, as well as changes to benefits.

During Yellowknife's strike, Mary Lou Cherwaty, president of the Federation of Labour for Northern Territories, said it's an issue of equality.

"Canada Post is trying to implement a two-tiered system of wages and benefits, whereby new hires would not be offered the same rates of pay, or the same benefits, or even the same pensions as the existing workers, she said.

"This will cause a huge amount of strife on workplace floors, and if they're allowed to get away with this, it will be like a disease across this country, whereby other employers and corporations will try to do the same thing."

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