Canada Post strike: Talks deadlocked as sides clash on wages

The federal labour minister says the government will remain on the sidelines as the Canada Post strike nears four weeks.

On Wednesday, Steven MacKinnon told reporters that Canadians are fed up with the countrywide strike, but that it's up to the two parties to get a deal done.

Negotiations between Canada Post and the union representing its workers appear deadlocked as the two sides remain far apart on wages and other issues.

On Monday, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) unveiled its latest wage proposal: an increase of 19 per cent over four years, dropping its previous demands of 24 per cent.

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But Canada Post, beleaguered by six years of financial losses, says that figure is still too high.

"Canada Post has offered wage hikes of 11.5 per cent over four years," reads a release from the company sent to media on Wednesday.

"Your Negotiators are working hard to get an agreement members can ratify," read a release from the union to members describing its latest demands. "We need Canada Post to meet us there."

Some 55,000 workers are off the job. The effects are wide-ranging: the Salvation Army of Canada says holiday donations are down 50 per cent, Service Canada says new passports requested by mail will be sent when the strike ends and millions of package deliveries have been halted.

In addition to the wage hike, the union is asking for a cost-of-living allowance, 10 medical days in addition to the seven personal days in the collective agreement, an increase to short-term disability payments to 80 per cent of regular wages and "improved rights" for temporary workers.

The union has also demanded better job security for urban workers – including a provision to outlaw contracts for workers outside of the union. It also wants part-time schedules to cover a minimum of 20 hours per week, among other provisions.

For rural and suburban workers, the union, in part, wants the corporation to ensure its eight-hour routes are maintained, as well as an update to "job security rights."

Canada Post, in its Wednesday release, claimed that the union's demands would cost the company more than $3 billion over four years, citing the wage increase and staffing changes as "big-ticket items."

"The union's proposal remains well beyond what the Corporation can afford," reads the release.

Federal mediation was suspended two weeks ago and calls for government intervention from the business community have so far been rebuffed.

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On Wednesday, Matt Jones, Alberta’s minister of jobs, economy and trade, was the latest to ask the government to move.

“The federal government must use every tool at its disposal and take immediate action to end this strike,” he said in a statement sent to CTV News.

Meanwhile, other groups have expressed solidarity with striking workers. On Tuesday, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), which represents non-rural postal staff in the United States, expressed its “unwavering solidarity” in a letter to CUPW.

It accused Canada Post of trying to introduce a delivery model “patterned after gig work” to its workforce.

“A decision to strike, particularly at this time of year, was certainly not made lightly. … know that you do not stand alone,” reads the letter.

With files from The Canadian Press