As Canada Post downgrades its full strike into rotating work stoppages beginning Monday, Perth-Wellington MP John Nater is hopeful for a negotiated settlement to the labour dispute between the employer and CUPW.
The union has resumed mail delivery on a limited basis, transitioning from a countrywide walkout.
“The best-case scenario is an agreement at the negotiating table,” said Nater.
“The back and forth has been going on for about a year now and the disagreement is causing a lot of uncertainty not only for Canada Post employees, but those affected by the job action, like small businesses.”
Nater said mediation has been offered to both sides of the dispute, and his hope is the government won’t have to legislate workers back to work. He added the biggest concerns his office receives are from small businesses.
“Whether that is the distribution of their advertising through flyers or pamphlets to potential customers, and a lot of them use Canada Post for their shipping. The strike has had a lot of impact on them.
Nater said the organization needs to get back into the position of being a serious player in the delivery of packages across the country.
“We saw Canada Post pick up a good chunk of the parcel delivery market about 10 years ago. They’ve lost that. That’s one area they could really benefit from where things are going with online shopping. Right now, they’ve got such a small market share compared to where they were.”
The federal government recently tabled a wish list of changes for the way Canada Post does business, including eventual end of door-to-door mail delivery for nearly all Canadian households, an end to a moratorium on community mailbox conversions and an end to the moratorium on closing rural post offices that has been in place since 1994.
Joël Lightbound, the minister responsible for Canada Post, said he’s encouraged by CUPW’s announcement as “Canadians count on mail delivery, and I’m glad to hear it will be moving again while negotiations between the union and Canada Post continue.”
