Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu urged Canada Post on Monday to quickly table a new offer to the union of striking postal workers.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) took to the picket lines Thursday after Ottawa announced sweeping changes to the Crown corporation’s operations to address its troubled financial situation.
Those changes include ending daily mail delivery, closing some rural post offices and moving almost all Canadian households to community mailboxes — moves the union calls a direct attack on workers.
In an interview with The Canadian Press on Monday, Hajdu did not rule out federal intervention to end the latest strike. But she also said Canada Post needs to put a new offer on the table quickly and the union needs to consider any proposal seriously.
She said the onus is on the parties to come together after nearly two years of bargaining to chart a new course for the struggling postal service.
“This union and corporation have to figure out the future of their workforce together and how they’re going to actually, together, transform Canada Post to be a viable, sustainable Crown corporation,” Hajdu said.
“There is no time to be wasted here by either the corporation, or the union, once that offer is tabled.”
A second strike at Canada Post in less than a year has already started taking a toll on businesses that rely on the service as both sides dig in and Ottawa signals the proposed cuts that triggered the strike are just the beginning.
Canada Post was preparing to put a new offer on the table Friday but is revising the proposal after the federal government’s announcement.
Canada Post spokesperson Jon Hamilton said last week there’s still a “significant gap” between Canada Post and the union. He said the new offer will reflect the federal government’s changes and a broad directive to get the postal service on solid footing and reduce the burden on taxpayers.
Canada Post’s financial situation is dire and the company claims it was losing upwards of $10 million per day over the summer as labour uncertainty stretched on. The postal service has relied on federal support to keep the lights on in recent years.
An industrial inquiry commission report earlier this year found the Crown corporation was effectively insolvent and suggested a host of measures to keep it afloat — suggestions the federal government adopted wholesale in its announcement last week.
CUPW negotiator Jim Gallant said last week the union understands Canada Post’s financial troubles but the solutions the federal government is offering are “extreme.”
He said the union wants the countrywide strike to push the federal government to walk back its overhaul of Canada Post and hold a public mandate review.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has warned the strike will have a “massive impact” on small businesses that rely on Canada Post, but the organization encouraged Ottawa to push ahead with planned reforms.
