Canada Post strike: Minister seeks order to get workers back on the job
Amid the ongoing Canada Post strike, federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon announced Friday that he is asking the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to order workers back on the job if it agrees with his determination there is an “impasse” in negotiations.
If the CIRB agrees, MacKinnon says the labour relations board would order Canada Post and all employees represented by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers to resume operations and extend the terms of the existing collective agreements until May 2025.
“Not only have the parties been unable to show any progress towards an agreement, the federal mediator has now informed me that the negotiations between both parties are now, in fact, going in the wrong direction,” he said during a Friday media conference.
“So I’m here today to announce that I am applying a solution to promote conditions favorable to the settlement of this labor dispute and protect the interests of all Canadians.”
When asked about the resumption of services and whether Christmas gifts and letters could be sent, MacKinnon stated that both parties must be heard by CIRB.
He emphasized that if the CIRB reaches the same conclusion as he has that the parties are at an “impasse,” he says the board could issue a directive for workers to be back by next week.
The strike began on Nov. 15 after Canada Post workers and the employer failed to reach an agreement. The union was seeking wage increases, better pensions and improved health benefits.
In the past, federal governments have used back-to-work legislation during Canada Post strikes, including in 2018 and 2011, to resolve disputes and restore essential services.
In 2011, a postal worker strike was followed by a two-week lockout imposed by Canada Post
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