Discussions continued on Friday between Canada Post and the Postal Workers Union with the aim of avoiding a strike.
Posted at 1:28 p.m.
Lia Levesque
The Canadian Press
No strike notice had yet been sent as of Friday noon by the large pan-Canadian union of 55,000 members. This means that the start of any possible strike is postponed until at least next week.
The union will have the legal right to strike starting Sunday. However, he must give 72 hours’ notice, if applicable. As he had not given such notice yet, Friday noon, the start of any possible strike is therefore postponed until next week, at the very least.
Furthermore, it is on Saturday that the reflection period which must follow the conciliation phase between the parties will end, under the rules in force. In this case, conciliation began on August 13, without reaching an agreement.
The communication channel between the parties remains open, Canada Post and the union, which is affiliated with the FTQ in Quebec, confirmed on Friday.
“At this critical stage of the talks, we are focused on negotiating new collective agreements,” Canada Post said.
On Friday, the union was still busy studying the latest global offers submitted by Canada Post last Tuesday evening and which number 500 pages, he said.
However, he said that, according to his preliminary assessment, the latest salary offers of 11.97% over four years were “far from what we demand and deserve”.
Canada Post, for its part, recalls its difficult financial situation.
On Thursday, federal Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon met with the union and Canada Post management to encourage them to find a negotiated settlement. “The parties must do the necessary work to reach an agreement. Negotiated agreements are the best way forward,” he said.
