Trudeau to blame for postal strike

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sleepwalked into the long postal dispute between CUPW and Canada Post.

As a retired postal worker of 35 years, I know how toxic some of the negotiations can become. I was present during the six-week 1975 strike and the six-week 1981 strike.

After those strikes, the government started ordering the workers back to work and enforcing arbitration.

There was no lasting bitterness against the government or Canada Post for most postal workers from these enforced, but fairly done arbitrations in the past.

Anyone knowledgeable of the relationship between Canada Post and CUPW should know how confrontational each party can become with the other.

The Prime Minister was busy with speculative trade deals in the East while this domestic situation with its Crown Corporation was making very little progress.

There was a mediator and, suddenly, and there wasn’t one.

Usually, the mediator recommends arbitration after mediation, but that didn’t happen. Nobody in the Liberal government was paying attention to what was happening or what wasn’t happening.

In the meantime, the strike is having an adverse effect on everyone. Canada Post, retailers, customers, customers sending Christmas mail to family from other countries.

It was the height of incompetence, to let the situation get to where it is now. Most of us took pride in getting the Christmas mail to our customers every year.

Most of the blame has to go to Justin Trudeau for letting this happen. Travelling around and getting great photo-ops isn’t handling business at home. David Barron, Brampton