Striking Canada Post workers are holding a rally outside of the Crown corporation’s head office in Ottawa on Thursday, as the strike job action by 55,000 postal workers nears the end of its second week.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) organized the rally from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the area of Riverside Drive and Heron Road.
CUPW’s rally comes after negotiations stalled Wednesday. Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said the special federal mediator has temporarily suspended mediation because Canada Post and CUPW remain too far apart on critical issues. MacKinnon later said the federal government does not plan to force a result through binding arbitration.
On Nov. 15, workers went on strike after negotiations failed to reach a new collective agreement between CUPW and Canada Post, disrupting mail delivery in the lead up to the busy holiday season.
The union says it wants salaries brought in line with inflation, an increase in paid medical days, better benefits, and to prevent the company from using private contractors. Canada Post, meanwhile, said in a statement to CTV News Wednesday that it must make changes to its “outdated, mail-based delivery model” and evaluated its losses at more than $3 billion since 2018.
On Thursday, Canada Post said in a statement to Newstalk 580 CFRA it understands the impact the strike is having on Canadians, pointing out its commitment to negotiate new agreements that benefit its members, without adding additional fixed costs that could hamper the company’s future.
“Canada Post is considering its options to move negotiations forward with greater urgency and remains committed to negotiating new collective agreements,” reads the statement.
“With mounting financial losses in the billions, Canada Post requires greater flexibility to its outdated, mail-based delivery model. This is about the future of the postal service and growing revenues by better serving Canadians.”
More to come
With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Ted Raymond