Canada Post and the union representing striking postal workers will head back to the bargaining table on Monday, this time with a special mediator appointed by the federal government.
Members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) took to the picket lines Friday in a nationwide strike that has halted all mail and parcel service by the Crown corporation.
Jan Simpson, president of CUPW, told Global News’s Amandalina Letterio on Sunday that talks between the union and employer are set to resume on Monday.
Peter Simpson, a special mediator appointed by the federal government on Thursday, will guide the renewed negotiations.
Jan Simpson said the union “looks forward to working with the new mediator,” adding that “the best collective agreements are those negotiated at the bargaining table.”
A spokesperson for Canada Post told Global News on Sunday that the Crown corporation also supports the appointment of a special mediator, but added that “the parties remain far apart at the table.”
“We remain committed to reaching new agreements at the bargaining table, and not through arbitration and discussions continue,” the spokesperson said.
Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon said on Friday he “is not looking at any other solution other than negotiation” to end the Canada Post strike, which business groups have charged will have damaging consequences for the Canadian economy and small businesses.
MacKinnon intervened this past week in port shutdowns across British Columbia and Quebec, ordering binding arbitration to get goods flowing again through maritime channels.
Postal workers are seeking improvements in wages, benefits and health and safety conditions after years of stagnant pay through the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery.
Canada Post and the union have been bargaining for a year.
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Simpson told Letterio on Sunday that “nobody wants to be on the picket line.” She said CUPW sought to avoid a drawn out negotiation and job action, but argued that Canada Post has not yet come to the table with “realistic” offers that recognize the work of postal workers during the pandemic.
“We’ve fallen behind,” she said. “Canada Post had agreed that, this round of bargaining, they’d help workers to catch up.”
Canada Post says it has offered “competitive wages” to the union in the form of an 11.5 per cent pay hike over four years, plus additional paid leave and defined-benefit pension protections.
Simpson said the employer also needs to address health and safety concerns at the new Albert Jackson processing centre in Scarborough, Ont., which opened last year.
Also key to the negotiations is a proposed expansion of Canada Post service to seven days a week. Simpson told Global News that the union has put forward its own model for how seven-day-a-week delivery could work, but said Canada Post’s representatives “keep saying no.”
The national postal carrier’s finances are in dire straits amid a decline in letter volumes over recent years, putting the Crown corporation in a tight spot as labour talks continue. Simpson said Sunday that while workers are looking forward to expanding Canada Post’s services on the other side of negotiations, the future needs to be built on a solid collective agreement with the union.
“They cannot expect to fix the problems that Canada Post has on the backs of these workers,” Simpson said.
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