THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi
Canada Post workers launched a nationwide strike early Friday after failing to reach a negotiated agreement with their employer. This strike will ensure that letters and packages “will neither be processed nor delivered,” warned the state-owned company.
The Postal Workers Union said approximately 55,000 of its members are now on strike. He maintained that little progress has been made in the negotiation process.
“Canada Post could have prevented this strike, but it refused to negotiate real solutions to the problems our members face every day,” the union denounced in a press release.
“Instead, Canada Post left us no choice by threatening to change our working conditions and expose our members to layoffs,” we added.
The union had filed a 72-hour strike notice earlier this week, putting it in a position to walk out at 12:01 a.m. Friday.
Its demands concern, among other things, salaries, working conditions, the right to retire “with dignity” and the diversification of services offered by the public postal service.
“A strike is a measure of last resort. We still have hope of obtaining negotiated collective agreements, but to do this, Canada Post must want to resolve our problems, whether recent or long-standing,” the union underlined in its press release.
Delivery interrupted
In response to the strike notice, Canada Post sent the union a notice of lockout, while indicating that it did not intend to use it.
Early Friday, the Crown corporation released its own statement, in which it confirmed that “Canada Post will cease operations during (the) national strike, which will affect businesses and millions of people across the country.”
Canada Post has explained that mail and packages currently in its network will be secure, and will be delivered when operations resume on a first-in, first-out basis.
“However, a national strike, no matter how long, will impact service long after the strike ends. The closure of facilities across the country will impact Canada Post’s entire national network. It may take some time for processing and delivery to return to normal,” it was warned.
Canada Post and the union previously agreed to continue delivering social benefit checks from government agencies even during a strike. Checks for the month of November will be delivered next Wednesday.
Ottawa advocates mediation
Hours before the strike began, federal Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon said he had formally appointed the director general of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service as a special mediator to support the parties.
“Our best federal mediators have worked tirelessly with the parties, and we are now sending additional resources to the negotiating table,” he wrote on the social network X.
“We are ensuring that these two groups have everything they need to reach an agreement,” the minister added.
In 2018, when Canada Post workers began rotating strikes in different provinces, the federal government passed special legislation to force their return to work.
Asked about the possibility of using this same mechanism in the context of the current conflict, earlier this week, Minister MacKinnon said he hoped that the parties would be able to reach an agreement at the negotiating table.
