A postal strike is scheduled to begin Monday if negotiations between unionized postal workers and Canada Post don't lead to a deal over the weekend.
NNSL file photo
The strike was originally going to start on Sept. 26, but the two sides committed to continue bargaining instead. That good will was running out last week as the Canadian Union of Postal Workers gave notice to Canada Post that rotating job action was imminent, barring a late agreement.
Among the issues that the union stated were still unresolved were job security, health and safety, gender equality and the union's desire to expand services through Canada Post outlets, particularly in rural locations.
For Nunavut's recreational marijuana users – legally permitted to indulge as of Oct. 17 – finding an economical way to get their mail-order cannabis without Canada Post could prove to be a real challenge.
A postal strike would have minimal impact on most government services, however, said Wende Halonen, communications staff member with Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs.
"Generally speaking, most correspondence, transactions and communications are done electronically or via courier," Halonen told Nunavut News in September.
Pay cheques for government employees won't be affected and neither will income assistance payments, which are issued directly in clients' home communities, or through Northern and Co-op stores if the payments come from regional offices, Halonen explained. One provision that would be made is to have Qulliq Energy Corporation bills that are paid manually delivered to Qulliq locations in the communities, she noted.