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Montreal, Quebec, Canada (AHN) – Members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers threatened on Wednesday to go on a nationwide strike on May 25 unless they reach a deal with Canada Post. The job walk off would involve 48,000 mail carriers and postal workers.

Canada Post and the union are in a deadlock over salary cuts for new workers. Canada Post wants to reduce the pay of new employees to $17.50 from $24 an hour. The company justified the lower pay to the use of new technology that would sort the mail, which had resulted in changing working conditions for Canada Post employees.

Like other postal companies worldwide, technology has shrunk the business of Canada Post. Although 240,000 new addresses are being added each year with the construction of new homes and condos, actual mail sent is decreasing at an average yearly rate of 1.5 percent due to the shift by Canadians to electronic mode of communication.

Canada Post said that despite the offer of lower salaries, workers in the company still enjoy a competitive wage and benefit package.

The planned strike may delay the delivery of mail-in referendum on the harmonized sales tax in British Columbia. But delivery of unemployment and welfare checks, pensions and other social-assistance checks would not be affected because Canada Post has an agreement with the union to continue with that service.

Despite the agreement, BC sent welfare checks a week in advance to avoid possible delivery problems, according to BC Finance Minister Kevin Falcon.

Falcon added Elections BC has the power to change the HST referendum date if the postal strike would push through and delay the mail out of the ballots slated to begin on June 13.

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