Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) will head back to the bargaining table on Monday with a special mediator appointed by the federal government as they remain “far apart” in talks.
The country’s national postal service said “customers will experience delays” and its “entire network” will be affected after more than 55,000 postal workers went on strike Friday morning.
It is day three of the strike and now the Ministry of Labour is appointing a special mediator to work toward a resolution. The union initially issued a 72-hour strike notice on Tuesday but the two sides were unable to reach an agreement.
Canada Post told the Star on Sunday they are still “committed to reaching new agreements at the bargaining table, and not through arbitration” despite the parties remaining “far apart at the table.”
In a statement on Friday, the union accused Canada Post of violating the Canada Labour Code and cited some of the reasons for the strike being, the cancellation of all health benefits, short-term disability, allowances, agreed to vacation leave as well as threatening layoffs.
CUPW added that “a strike is a last resort,” and that “Canada Post had the opportunity to prevent this strike, but it has refused to negotiate real solutions to the issues postal workers face every day.”
On Sunday, Canada Post said they have lost $3 billion since 2018 and the service is at a “critical juncture.”
“We’ve offered competitive wage increases (11.5 per cent over four years) and additional paid leave, while protecting their defined benefit pension and job security provisions,” said the country’s national postal service.
Mail and parcels in the postal network will be delivered on a first-in, first-out basis according to Canada Past. However, they say a “national strike of any length will impact service to Canadians well after the strike activity ends.”
