Canada Post: No agreement so far as work stoppage deadline nears

The timepiece is ticking for Canada Post and its workers’ national to scope an statement to debar a imaginable enactment stoppage.

Canada Post has said it intends to proceed operating contempt having issued a lockout notice to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), which has served its ain onslaught notices for some the municipality operations portion and the agrarian and suburban message carriers (RSMC) unit.

“Canada Post has notified the national that unless caller agreements are reached, the existent corporate agreements volition nary longer use arsenic of Friday,” Lisa Liu, a Canada Post spokesperson told Global News connected Tuesday.

Liu said the announcement was required to beryllium filed with the national and the labour curate to “make the changes to our operations starting Friday, if needed.”

The national volition besides beryllium successful a ineligible presumption to statesman onslaught activity, arsenic of 12:01 a.m. eastbound connected Friday, but it’s unclear what occupation enactment could look like.

When issuing its ain 72-hour onslaught notices Tuesday morning, CUPW did not accidental if workers would locomotion disconnected the job.

Both sides person been engaged successful talks for astir a year successful an effort to scope corporate agreements.

Canada Post says the looming occupation enactment could interaction millions of Canadians and businesses who trust connected their service.

Amid the uncertainty of a enactment stoppage astatine the nationalist postal service, other courier services are already preparing for an influx of deliveries and making contingency plans.

The imaginable enactment stoppage has retailers, particularly tiny businesses, disquieted up of the engaged vacation season.

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“This is 1 of the main suppliers for parcel transportation for retail, and it couldn’t travel astatine the worst clip during the vacation season,” Matt Poirier, vice-president of national authorities relations for the Retail Council of Canada, told Global News successful an interrogation Wednesday.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) said connected Thursday that it is disappointed by the imaginable for different enactment stoppage impacting tiny businesses, urging some sides to travel to an agreement.

“Small firms beryllium connected a reliable postal service, and they request message and parcel transportation work provided by Canada Post to stay afloat operational,” Corinne Pohlmann, enforcement vice-president of advocacy astatine CFIB, said successful a statement.

If a enactment stoppage does occur, it won’t beryllium the archetypal clip for Canada Post, as the astir caller rotating strikes were held successful 2008 and 2011.