The Canada Post strike and Ottawa's proposed 'time out': What's happened so far
CBC
As the nationwide postal strike hit the four-week mark Friday, federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon announced he's sending the labour dispute between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) to the Canada Industrial Relations Board.
Here's a brief recap of how things got to this point.
CUPW said the strike was necessary after Canada Post "refused to negotiate real solutions to the issues postal workers face every day."
As the strike began, Canada Post warned in a statement that it would "cause delays for Canadians as holiday shopping season begins."
At 12:01 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 15.
Federal mediation was put on hold Nov. 27 after mediators concluded the sides were too far apart.
On Friday, MacKinnon said he was sending the labour dispute to the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB). If the board determines a deal isn't in reach by the end of the year, it would order the nearly 55,000 workers back to work under their current contract until May 22, 2025.
"We're calling a time out," the minister said Friday.
"Suffice to say positions appeared to have hardened and it became clear to me we were in a total impasse."
In the meantime, MacKinnon said he will appoint an industrial inquiry commission to look into the bargaining issues.
It will have until May 15 to come up with recommendations on how a new agreement could be reached.
Canada Post operations have halted during the strike.
MacKinnon said he hopes the CIRB will act quickly, and if it agrees with his conclusions, it could "order a resumption of activities of Canada Post that could happen as early as early next week."
Ottawa used Section 107 of the Labour Code to make its move Friday, after using the same powers to intervene earlier this year in disputes at the country's railways and ports, directing the CIRB to order workers back to work and to order binding arbitration.
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