Purolator threatens strike

Photo: Contributed

Purolator employees have overwhelmingly voted in favour of strike action.

The company has offices in Kelowna, Vernon and Penticton.

The Teamsters Canada Union's bargaining committee has not set a strike deadline, said a joint statement from negotiating committee chairman Gary Kitchen and Teamsters president François Laporte.

"The bargaining committee will determine if and when such a deadline is set," said the statement.

"Our hope is that management will now rethink their positions on the issues that brought bargaining to a standstill. Many of the company demands are not acceptable to Teamster members."

Bargaining broke off in December after six weeks of intense bargaining, said the union.

According to the union: 

• The company is insisting on contracting out routes to non-union carriers anywhere outside of a 50-kilometre radius of a depot, which the union asserts would lead to layoffs across the country.
• The company advised the union that they have a mandate to change the pension plan from defined benefit to defined contribution, leading to substantially less retirement income.
• The company wants to put an end to the retirement bonus