Canada Post workers begin ‘nationwide strike’ as talks fail

The national for Canada Post workers says their members are present connected a “nationwide strike” arsenic negotiations with the Crown corp failed to scope an statement by Friday.

“Some 55,000 postal workers represented by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) went connected a nationwide onslaught connected Friday, November 15 astatine 12:01am ET,” the Canadian Union of Postal Workers said successful a connection connected Friday morning.

“After a twelvemonth of bargaining with small progress, postal workers made the hard determination to strike. Canada Post had the accidental to forestall this strike, but it has refused to negociate existent solutions to the issues postal workers look each day. Instead, Canada Post near america nary prime erstwhile it threatened to alteration our moving conditions and permission our members exposed to layoffs.”

The connection continued: “Our demands are reasonable: just wages, harmless moving conditions, the close to discontinue with dignity, and the enlargement of services astatine the nationalist station office. Postal workers are arrogant to service their communities, and we privation to bash the occupation we love. A onslaught is simply a past resort.  We inactive judge we tin execute negotiated corporate agreements, but Canada Post indispensable beryllium consenting to resoluteness our caller and outstanding issues.”

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) issued a 72-hour announcement of onslaught enactment connected Tuesday, with it entering a ineligible onslaught presumption arsenic of 12:01 a.m. Eastern this morning, though it had not said however its occupation enactment would beryllium conducted.

Hours aft the national announced its plans earlier this week, Canada Post issued its ain announcement of lockout to instrumentality effect Friday, noting that its corporate agreements with some agrarian and municipality workers would nary longer apply.

This isn’t the archetypal enactment stoppage astatine the Crown corporation, with national members having conducted rotating strikes successful some 2018 and 2011, and Canada Post locking retired employees successful the second case.

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In some cases, the national governments astatine the clip — the Liberals successful 2018 and Conservatives successful 2011 — passed back-to-work authorities to extremity the strikes.

Organizations representing businesses person warned of the interaction up of the vacation season.

Matt Poirier, vice-president of national authorities relations for the Retail Council of Canada, told Global News connected Wednesday this was the worst clip for a enactment stoppage.

“Thei is 1 of the main suppliers for message transportation for retail,” helium said. “It couldn’t travel astatine the worst clip during the vacation season.”

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said Thursday it was disappointed astir the imaginable for different enactment stoppage impacting tiny businesses and urged some sides to travel to an agreement.

MacKinnon has antecedently said the national authorities is hopeful some sides volition execute a woody astatine the table, adding that Ottawa is providing mediation enactment to some parties.

If Ottawa were to see back-to-work legislation, it would request enactment from either the Bloc Quebecois oregon Conservatives to walk arsenic the NDP person said they would not ballot for specified a bill.

The authorities could besides enforce binding arbitration to extremity the enactment stoppages, arsenic helium did earlier this week to extremity enactment stoppages astatine Canada’s largest ports successful British Columbia and Quebec.