CUPW asks for postal chaos mediator

OTTAWA — The Canadian Union of Postal Workers issued a request Saturday for the federal government to appoint a mediator in contract talks with Canada Post as it rejected the Crown corporation’s latest offers.

Canada Post issued new, timesensitive proposals last week aimed at reaching agreements with its approximately 42,000 urban employees and 8,000 rural and suburban carriers.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau weighed in Saturday night with a last-minute plea to the two sides, just hours before the midnight deadline on the Crown corporation’s offers expired.

In a Twitter post, Trudeau cited the arrival of the holiday shopping season and urged both sides “to resolve their differences quickly and reach a deal.”

But as the deadline on the offers passed, CUPW issued a statement that said it had responded “by presenting the Corporation with our own global offers that address our needs and demands.”

The union also said that it had asked the government to appoint a mediator to help the two sides reach an accord after nearly a year of talks.

“We believe that our proposals can be the basis of collective agreements,” it added.

CUPW had said on Friday that the new proposals from Canada Post made positive steps, but not enough to end the rotating strikes that have shut down postal operations in more than 200 communities, creating a huge backlog of undelivered mail.

It said it would not bring the offers to a vote of its members, although both sides remained at the bargaining table.

After the deadline passed on Sunday, Canada Post said it was “determining next steps.”