Sides remain without a deal

OTTAWA The Trudeau government has signalled it is willing to give Canada Post a couple more days to settle a labour dispute with its employees despite pressure from business to end rotating strikes that have caused a month-long backlog of undelivered parcels and mail.

Canada Post said Monday morning it would agree to another round of mediation with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, but only if its striking workers end their walkouts during a so-called cooling-off period. The Crown corporation also called for binding arbitration if no settlement is reached by the end of January.

Within minutes of CUPW’s rejection of that proposal, federal Labour Minister Patty Hajdu renewed her call for the two sides to continue bargaining, but did not respond directly to reporters’ questions about backto-work legislation.

That was met by an amended proposal from Canada Post that dropped the notion of binding arbitration.

In an earlier statement, CUPW national president Mike Palecek said the union wasn’t holding rotating strikes to harm the public.

But Palecek said he would not ask his members to return to work under conditions that effectively have some employees working without compensation.

“The proposal asks our members to go back to work at the heaviest and most stressful time of year, under the same conditions that produce the highest injury rate in the federal sector,” he said in a statement. “It asks women to continue to do work for free. How can we do that?”

Canada Post proposed the cooling-off period as pressure mounts to resolve the ongoing labour dispute ahead of the busy Christmas delivery season.

In a statement, the Crown corporation said it wanted CUPW members to put down their picket signs while talks are on, and offered a special payment of up to $1,000 for each member if there is no labour disruption while mediated talks are on.