After almost a month of strike between Canada Post and its employees, Federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon is asking the Canada Industrial Relations Board to assess the situation and order employees back to work if they think a deal will not be reached.
The 55,000 employees who are part of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) want better wages, safe working conditions, the right to retire with dignity, and the expansion of services at the public post office, according to a news release from the union. The strike began on Nov. 15, after the union said it made little progress after a year of bargaining.
MacKinnon released a statement in a post on X. “I have asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to assess the likelihood of the parties reaching negotiated agreements by the end of 2024 under the current circumstances, and if the CIRB considers this unlikely, to order the Canada Post Corporation and all employees represented by CUPW to resume and continue their operations and duties, and to extend the terms of the existing agreements until May 22, 2025,” he said.
After MacKinnon’s announcement, the union released a statement. “The Union denounces in the strongest terms this assault on our constitutionally protected right to collectively bargain and to strike,” per the statement. “This order continues a deeply troubling pattern in which the government uses its arbitrary powers to let employers off the hook, drag their feet, and refuse to bargain in good faith with workers and their unions.”
