CUPW denounces “assault” on right to strike and bargain

Saying the strike at Canada Post is having a significant impact on small businesses, charities and seniors, the federal government is stepping in.

CUP-W walked off the job Nov. 15 with Canada Post halting all service as they did. The sides have been trading proposals to beginning negotiations again but without any agreement to at least talk.

In a statement this morning, Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon says the labour disruption has “reached a critical point.”

He asked the Canadian Industrial Relations board to “assess the likelihood” of a settlement by the end of the year. If it is unlikely, the minister says the board will order CUPW back to work and for Canada Post to extend the current contract until May. It’s expected negotiations would continue.

Workers could be back on the job early next week

MacKinnon says the board will examine the issues and provide recommendations on how a new collective agreement can be reached.

“Canadians cannot continue to bear the consequences of this impasse. Our priority is to restore postal services while ensuring a fair balance between the rights of workers, those of the employer but also those of Canadians,” he said in a statement.

CUP-W, in a statement, denounced the move saying “assault on our constitutionally protected right to collectively bargain and to strike.

“This order continues a deeply troubling pattern in which the government uses its arbitrary powers to let employers off the hook, drag their feet, and refuse to bargain in good faith with workers and their unions.”

Read the full statement of the feds and CUP W below