Canada Post cuts deliveries due to rotating strike (Reuters)

VANCOUVER (Reuters) – Mail delivers in Canadian cities will be cut to three days a week because rotating strikes have slashed mail volumes by up to half, Canada Post officials said on Wednesday.

Mail workers began rotating strikes last week in a contract dispute that both sides acknowledge is rooted in how the country's postal system will survive in the era of e-mail and digital bill payments.

Canada Post, which normally delivers mail every weekday said it will also cut staffing levels at mail processing plants, but post offices will keep their current hours and rural deliveries will continue five days a week.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers launched its strike action on June 3, accusing the federal corporation of ignoring proposals that the union says would protect workers while helping Canada Post adapt to changing times.

Canada Post regularly reports an annual profit, but says it cannot afford the union's demands as mail volumes continue to fall and as it struggles with a C$3.2 billion pension deficit. It says CUPW's proposal would increase the top wage rate to C$26 an hour.

(Reporting Allan Dowd; editing by Rob Wilson)

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Postal workers prepare for rotating strike (Reuters)

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Postal workers will start limited rotating strikes around the country on Thursday night unless a last-minute contract deal can be reached with Canada Post, the employees' union said on Thursday.

"The strike will begin at 11:59 p.m. EDT in Winnipeg. The Winnipeg local will be on strike for 24 hours, after which the strike will continue in other locations to be announced later," the Canadian Union of Postal Workers said in a statement.

"The purpose of this strike activity is to encourage Canada Post Corporation to abandon their proposals for significant concessions and instead negotiate solutions to the very real problems that are being experienced by 48,000 postal workers," the union said.

Canada Post says its letter mail volume has declined by 17 percent in the last five years as e-mail has increased. The government corporation says it cannot afford the union's wage demands and says it needs to introduce new rules to reduce sick leave.

Its last annual report, for 2009, showed a profit for the 15th consecutive year, but said its financial future was weak.

(Reporting by Randall Palmer; editing by Rob Wilson)

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