Canada Post strike: Ottawa not looking at forced end, minister says

Canada’s labour minister stated the federal authorities is targeted on getting an settlement on the bargaining desk as Canada Put up employees have walked off the job in a nationwide strike.

“I’m not another answer apart from negotiation,” Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon advised reporters in Montreal. “Proper now, day by day is a brand new day in collective bargaining and we’re going to proceed to assist the events in any method we are able to and ensure they’re able to attempt to get a negotiated settlement.”

Canada Put up is warning Canadians will face delays in receiving their mail, and postage already within the system won’t be delivered, with just a few exceptions after the union stated negotiations failed to achieve an settlement by Friday.

MacKinnon stated that he had directed all assets in his division in direction of serving to the events attain an settlement, however stated he would characterize the negotiations as “extraordinarily troublesome.”

“There are lots of huge points to resolve on the desk, and never numerous progress has been made on these huge points,” MacKinnon stated.

The union had delivered a strike discover on Tuesday, warning it might be in a authorized place for job motion as of 12:01 a.m. Japanese on Friday. When that deadline handed, the union stated it had begun strike motion.

“Some 55,000 postal employees represented by the Canadian Union of Postal Staff (CUPW) went on a nationwide strike on Friday, November 15 at 12:01am ET,” the CUPW stated in a press release on Friday morning.

Canada Put up warned in a press release Friday that “clients will expertise delays because of the strike exercise,” affecting thousands and thousands of Canadians and companies. Service to distant and Northern areas that depend on Canada Put up deliveries shall be shut down.

There shall be no supply of mail or parcels throughout the strike and a few publish workplaces will shut, in line with the Crown company.

Retail analyst Bruce Winder advised International Information on Friday that Canadians who must ship letters or packages on a good turnaround must flip to personal carriers, however he warned “it’s going to price slightly extra.”

“Realistically when you’ve obtained items to ship to family members, you most likely ought to use alternate strategies just like the couriers,” he stated.

4:22
Vacation procuring impacted following Canada Put up strike

Service ensures on any objects already within the postal system shall be affected and no new objects shall be accepted for mailing till after the strike ends.

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Nevertheless, Canada Put up employees will nonetheless ship advantages cheques on Wednesday, Nov. 20, in line with a discover posted within the window of a shuttered postal workplace in Ottawa on Friday.

Nationally, this consists of the Canada Pension Plan, Outdated Age Safety, Veteran Affairs Pension Plan and the Canada Baby Tax Profit; in Quebec, the provincial pension plan and little one help funds will nonetheless exit; in Alberta, pension cheques from Alberta Seniors shall be delivered as typical.

Canada Put up warned that any disrupted postage shall be delivered on a first-in, first-out foundation as soon as operations resume, however warned the impacts will doubtless be felt within the days after the strike ends.

CUPW issued a 72-hour discover of strike motion on Tuesday, with it getting into a authorized strike place as of 12:01 a.m. Japanese this morning.

Hours after the union introduced its plans earlier this week, Canada Put up issued its personal discover of lockout to take impact Friday, noting that its collective agreements with each rural and concrete employees would not apply.

A Canada Put up spokesperson advised International Information in an e mail Friday that the shutdown shouldn’t be thought-about a lockout.

“This can be a work stoppage ensuing from CUPW’s choice to launch a nationwide strike. Canada Put up was dedicated to sustaining operations whereas talks proceed,” the assertion learn.

The CUPW in the meantime stated the choice to strike was a “troublesome” one which got here after a yr of bargaining with the employer.

“Canada Put up had the chance to stop this strike, nevertheless it has refused to barter actual options to the problems postal employees face day by day. As a substitute, Canada Put up left us no selection when it threatened to vary our working circumstances and depart our members uncovered to layoffs.”

3:11
How will Canada Put up shutdown impression busy vacation season?

The assertion continued: “Our calls for are affordable: honest wages, protected working circumstances, the fitting to retire with dignity, and the enlargement of providers on the public publish workplace. Postal employees are proud to serve their communities, and we wish to do the job we love. A strike is a final resort.  We nonetheless consider we are able to obtain negotiated collective agreements, however Canada Put up should be keen to resolve our new and excellent points.”

Canada Put up stated the shutdown comes at a “vital juncture” for the postal service, which has posted losses of greater than $3 billion since 2018.

The employer claimed that it has made gives for wage will increase of 11.5 per cent over 4 years along with measures defending defined-benefit pensions and job safety.

“To assist safe the way forward for the corporate and develop our parcel enterprise, Canada Put up has put ahead proposals to supply seven-day-a-week parcel supply, extra aggressive pricing and different vital enhancements. This new supply mannequin is crucial for the way forward for the corporate, and significant to our potential to afford the gives,” the Canada Put up assertion learn.

The union has beforehand stated Canada Put up’s gives “fall quick.”

CUPW shouldn’t be satisfied that this seven-day supply plan will shield employees’ common full-time routes on weekdays.

On short-term incapacity, CUPW is demanding to incorporate 10 medical days and 7 private days within the collective agreements, however Canada Put up refuses to budge from 13 private days, the union has stated.

This isn’t the primary work stoppage on the Crown company, with union members having carried out rotating strikes in each 2018 and 2011, and Canada Put up locking out workers within the latter case.

In each instances, the federal governments on the time — the Liberals in 2018 and Conservatives in 2011 — handed back-to-work laws to finish the strikes.

Organizations representing companies have warned of the impression forward of the vacation season.

Matt Poirier, vice-president of federal authorities relations for the Retail Council of Canada, advised International Information on Wednesday this was the worst time for a piece stoppage.

“This is likely one of the fundamental suppliers for mail supply for retail,” he stated. “It couldn’t come on the worst time throughout the vacation season.”

The Canadian Federation of Impartial Enterprise stated Thursday it was dissatisfied concerning the potential for one more work stoppage impacting small companies and urged each side to return to an settlement.

MacKinnon has beforehand stated the federal authorities is hopeful each side will obtain a deal on the desk, including that Ottawa is offering mediation assist to each events.

4:14
Canada publish strike – how far aside are the 2 sides?

If Ottawa have been to think about back-to-work laws, it might want assist from both the Bloc Quebecois or Conservatives to cross because the NDP have stated they might not vote for such a invoice.

The federal government may additionally impose binding arbitration to finish the work stoppages, because it did earlier this week to finish work stoppages at Canada’s largest ports in British Columbia and Quebec.

— with information from International Information’ Saba Aziz