(Ottawa) Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) participated this weekend in hearings of the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to determine whether the two parties are truly at an impasse.
Posted at 4:45 p.m.
Updated at 5:23 p.m.
Christopher Reynolds
The Canadian Press
The hearings took place in Ottawa on Saturday and Sunday, a Canada Post spokesperson said.
The Labor Minister’s office said on Sunday that a decision from the CCRI was expected Monday or Tuesday, but stressed that the verdict did not depend on the government.
While the conflict has lasted for a month, the state-owned company says it will inform Canadians as quickly as possible of the resumption of its activities.
Mail could start being delivered across the country again early next week, after the federal government pushed Friday to end the work stoppage at Canada Post.
“While the process is ongoing, there is no change to the situation and our operations remain closed,” Canada Post said in a statement.
“From the beginning, our goal has been to reach negotiated agreements with CUPW that would help us better meet the evolving needs of Canadians and provide good jobs for the people who provide the service. We remain committed to doing so within the framework of this new process, while meeting the postal needs of Canadians,” added the Crown corporation.
Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon has asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order the 55,000 employees who have been on picket lines to return to work within days if the court determines that an agreement is not reached. not possible before the end of the year.
PHOTO PATRICK DOYLE, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Steven MacKinnon, Minister of Labor of Canada
The minister’s directive would also extend the contract between the Crown corporation and its employees until the end of May.
Canada Post refused to specify whether it had told the board of directors this weekend that the two parties were indeed at a dead end after negotiating in good faith. This situation would likely result in the return of postal trucks this week.
A federally appointed mediator withdrew two weeks ago, saying the two sides were too far apart to reach an agreement.
CUPW will hold a rally outside Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland’s office in Toronto on Monday morning, the Toronto and York Region Labor Council announced.
The organization believes that Mr. MacKinnon’s intervention constituted a “massive violation” of workers’ rights, echoing the union’s denunciation of the decision last week.
“In response to a government that has clearly shown its willingness to intervene on behalf of the employer, Canada Post Corporation has refused to negotiate fairly or in good faith,” the council said in a statement on Sunday.
Ottawa used section 107 of the Labor Code to formulate its directive Friday, after using the same powers to intervene earlier this year in disputes at the country’s railways and ports, ordering the CIRB to order the return of workers to work and to impose binding arbitration.
MacKinnon called the move a creative solution by avoiding taking the matter directly to mandatory arbitration, as the government had done in previous standoffs.
“We are calling for a time out. Positions seem to have hardened. It has become clear to me that we are in a total impasse,” he said in Ottawa on Friday.
Business groups had asked the government to intervene as companies and individuals struggled to find other delivery methods for the end-of-year holidays which are in full swing.
The union did not respond to requests for comment.
