The Canadian Press
Terry Pedwell
OTTAWA—Labour minister MaryAnn Mihychuk said Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers would begin working with a special mediator this morning in the face of a union threat of job action.
“In an attempt to push the two parties, help them facilitate a mediated, negotiated settlement, we’ve got a special mediator coming in who will start working with both parties tomorrow morning,” Mihychuk said yesterday evening in Saguenay, Que., where she was attending the Liberal summer caucus retreat.
“We hope to have significant resolution by Sunday,” Mihychuk added.
The union representing nearly 51,000 employees issued a 72-hour notice of job action yesterday, accusing the Crown corporation of forcing a labour dispute.
It was not immediately clear whether the action would result in a disruption of mail and parcel deliveries, something that—if it does happen—could come as early as next week.
The union said the notice—delivered to management just hours before a strike mandate was set to expire—“listed anticipated job actions” but stopped short of a full-blown walkout.
The union hasn’t said exactly what actions it was planning.
The notice puts postal carriers in a legal strike position by Aug. 28.
In a statement, CUPW national president Mike Palecek said Canada Post forced the union’s hand by refusing to accept a request from the federal labour minister to continue negotiations under a 24-hour deadline extension with the help of a special mediator.
“This was an 11th-hour intervention from the government to avoid a dispute and of course we said, ‘Yes,’” noted Palecek.
“From the outset, our goal has been a negotiated collective agreement without service disruptions,” he added.
“Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Canada Post, whose president and CEO Deepak Chopra refused the minister’s request.”
But a spokesman for the agency said that was not the case.
“Canada Post will fully co-operate in the [mediation] process,” Jon Hamilton said in an e-mail.
“We hope that the assistance of a neutral third party will help both parties address the real challenges facing the postal service caused by declining mail volumes and increasing pension obligations,” he added.
The union’s strike mandate was set to expire at midnight yesterday.
Had it expired, Canada Post employees likely would have had to vote to approve another mandate—a costly process that could take up to two months to complete.
CUPW had asked the agency to allow an extension of the mandate, a request that was refused as “inappropriate.”
The two sides had been in sometimes bitter negotiations for more than nine months but still were far apart on key issues, including pay equity for rural carriers and proposed changes to the Canada Post pension plan—despite days of intensive talks that carried through last weekend.
CUPW offered a glimmer of hope yesterday that a strike could be averted, saying it’s still prepared to talk.
“We are still willing to withdraw our notice if Canada Post agrees to an extension,” said Palecek.
The Crown corporation also has the option to lock out workers.
