Local union representatives are accusing Canada Post of unfair labour practices and lying to its employees, as post office workers began a series of rotating picket lines this morning.

Local union members were at the postal headquarters at the top of Two Mile Hill picketing for two hours this morning in support of the one local member of the affected union. They were scheduled to picket again this afternoon between 4:00 and 5:00.

Ninety per cent of the 2,200 members belonging to the Union of Postal Communications Employees voted last week in favour of strike action.

"Our bargaining team has been working hard to negotiate a fair deal for our members, but this employer has not been bargaining in good faith, and their demands for concessions are an insult to their employees," Jean-Francois Des Lauriers, a senior official with the Public Service Alliance of Canada, said in a press release issued this morning.

Canada Post employees are represented by two unions, with the Union of Postal Communications Employees (UPCE) representing clerical and administrative staff primarily, while the mail handlers are represented by another union.

There is one member of the UPCE union in Whitehorse.

Canada Post and the union began negotiating a new collective agreement last June, in advance of the Aug. 31 expiry of the collective agreement.

The union provided the Crown corporation with the required 72-hour strike notice on Friday.

It's not clear what the impact will be locally.

"Our members voted 88 per cent in favour of strike action because they don't want the new short-term disability system," PSAC national president John Gordon said in a press release issued Friday. "They just want to protect the sick leaves and family leaves they have acquired in the past," he added.

Alex Furlong, who will also be speaking for the union in his position as president of the Yukon Federation of Labour, said today the picket lines will go up at strategic times, given there's only one union member affected.

Local or national Canada Post management could not be reached for comment this morning.

Des Lauriers' press release accuses the Canada Postal Corporation of trying to make changes to its short-term disability policy without the involvement of the union, while making major requests from the union membership.

"Canada Post has put the backs of their employees to the wall for the sake of saving a buck or two, and until they return to the table with an acceptable offer, we will be out on the line with our members across Canada fighting for a better deal," says the press release.

The press release says the Crown corporation is seeking "major" concessions, and is "proposing unacceptable rollbacks on benefits, sick leave, family leave and job security.

"The PSAC has also filed unfair labour practice complaints against CPC for giving its employees false information about bargaining, and for disregarding provisions of the Canada Labour Codes," the release goes on to say.