Canada Post and the union representing 55,000 postal workers issued statements criticizing each other on Tuesday with negotiations at an apparent standstill.
As a result, a nationwide strike that began on November 15 shows no sign of ending.
No mail is being received or delivered, save for some special action being taken to deliver certain government cheques.
Some post offices in the Northwest Territories, including in Yellowknife, remain closed. Even post offices that remain open have no mail coming in or going out.
The specific detail of negotiations over the past few days is not known, though both sides talked about bargaining in broad brushstrokes in their most recent statements.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
The strike followed more than a year of negotiating. The union wants wage increases that match inflation, better benefits, protection against some forms of technological change and better leave arrangements among other proposals.
Canada Post has said it is offering a “competitive” 11.5-percent wage increase over four years, while advancing proposals to offer seven-day-a-week parcel delivery and more competitive pricing. It says changes are “essential for the future of the company.”
What’s the latest?
In a Tuesday afternoon statement, Canada Post said it was “considering its options to move negotiations forward as talks with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers have ground to a halt.”
Canada Post said there had been progress on “minor items” but not on what it says is the urgent need to “bring more flexibility to its outdated, mail-based delivery model.”
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
“After not responding over the past several days, CUPW has just informed us, through the special mediator, that it will not be responding at all,” Canada Post stated.
“We had hoped the union would bring some much-needed urgency to the discussions. That has not been the case.”
A CUPW statement also issued on Tuesday was similarly critical of Canada Post.
Taking aim at earlier Canada Post statements, the union said the employer “appears to be trying to sway public opinion and turn Canadians against postal workers, who have continually demonstrated a deep commitment to the country and its citizens.”
“This tactic of distraction not only mischaracterizes the nature of the negotiations but undermines the hard work and dedication shown by postal employees,” CUPW added.
The union accused a Canada Post negotiator of threatening to contract out weekend parcel delivery and said Canada Post had not responded to the union’s proposals for its urban bargaining unit. (There are two units representing affected workers, the other being the rural and suburban group.)
Among a list of other concerns, CUPW said Canada Post had “outright rejected” some unspecified staffing proposals for the urban unit as well as a proposal to “ensure proper mail volumes” for the rural and suburban unit.
More: Read the Canada Post and CUPW statements in full
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
Canada Post concluded its Tuesday statement by saying it had “consistently put forward proposals that are critical for the future of the postal service and important to the Canadians we serve, while protecting our current employees.”
“Our proposals would add a greater mix of part-time and full-time employees to our delivery model to respond to the daily variations in parcel volumes and provide weekend delivery,” the employer said.
The union said Canada Post was “out of touch with the workers of this country.”
“A Canada Post spokesperson said earlier in the strike that young people don’t want full-time work; that they all want ‘flexibility.’ But over the last few years, all we’ve heard is that young people are struggling with the high cost of living,” CUPW stated.
“They are working multiple jobs not because they want to, but because they need to in order to survive. We are bargaining not only for the workers of today, but so new postal workers will be compensated fairly so they won’t need multiple jobs.”
