Postal strike ordered to end

UPDATE: 5:10 p.m.

Dozens of Canada Post workers gathered outside a delivery centre in east Toronto reacted with a mixture of frustration, disappointment and hope on Friday morning as Ottawa announced it was moving to end their nearly month-long work stoppage.

After nearly a month on the picket lines, some striking employees in yellow jackets were glued to their phones to find out the details of the announcement, which affects some 55,000 workers.

Others were discussing the development as they stood around a fire they had set up to keep warm in below-zero temperatures.

Postal worker Kirk Gonnsen said while he was disappointed that a deal on a new collective agreement couldn't be reached, he was happy that those struggling to pay bills and rent would soon be bringing home a paycheque.

"I think it is unfortunate that this is the resolution that we came to," he said.

"But I am happy that people, my colleagues who are suffering ... are going to be able to go back to work and earn some money."

Speaking at a press conference in Ottawa, Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said the Crown corporation and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers were at an "impasse" that impelled the federal government to intervene.

MacKinnon said he was asking the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order workers to return to work and extend their current contract until next May, if an agreement can't be reached by the end of this year.

He announced an inquiry would probe why negotiations between the two parties failed and what can be done to make a new deal possible.

Gonnsen said he has no option but to be optimistic about the inquiry. For "my own emotional stability," he said, "you have to hope that a good resolution is going to come out (of) this."

The union, which began the work stoppage on Nov. 15, denounced Ottawa's decision and called it an "assault" on workers’ rights.

Workers outside the facility in Toronto's east end said they don't believe Canada Post has been negotiating in good faith, an accusation the corporation has denied.

Helen Karrandjas, another union member, said she was "disappointed" to see employees ordered to get back to work before getting a fair deal.

"We work hard. We deserve a living wage, and it looks like Canada Post's upper management is not willing to negotiate," she said.

The launch of an inquiry is an interesting move, said fellow union member Gerard Van Deelen.

"Now we are going to have a commission and then back to negotiations," he said.

"I can only hope the commission finds something out about management unwillingness to budge an inch."

Denise Caster, another worker, said she and her colleagues always wanted to get back to work, but they were hoping they could do so after getting a deal.

"All they want to do is (to) take away from us. They are claiming that, you know, we are being greedy and that we want too much. We only want what is fair," she said.

"I guess we will have to wait until May to see what is going to happen with that."

ORIGINAL: 10:45 a.m.

Mail could begin moving again in Canada as early as next week after the federal government moved Friday to end the nearly month-long work stoppage at Canada Post.

Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon referred the dispute to the Canada Industrial Relations Board, with the aim of ordering the nearly 55,000 workers back to work and extending their current contract until May 22, 2025 — if the board determines a deal isn't within reach before the end of the year.

In the meantime, MacKinnon said he will appoint an industrial inquiry commission to look into the bargaining issues and come up with recommendations by May 15 on how a new agreement can be reached.

"We're calling a time out," MacKinnon told a news conference in Ottawa.

"Suffice to say positions appeared to have hardened and it became clear to me we were in a total impasse."

A federally appointed mediator withdrew themselves two weeks ago, saying at the time the two sides were too far apart to make a deal.

MacKinnon said since then, the negotiations have been "going in the wrong direction."

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 board to order workers back to work and to order binding arbitration.

It's a move that sparked legal challenges from the unions involved and that labour experts and advocates have said erodes workers' bargaining rights.

This time, the government's use of section 107 is "more restrained," said Alison Braley-Rattai, an associate professor of labour at Brock University.

Business groups have been calling on the government to intervene — though Canada Post did not. Up until Friday MacKinnon insisted intervention wasn't in the cards.

But despite the wait, Braley-Rattai said she isn't surprised the government ended up stepping in.

"It has been going on for a very long time," she said of the dispute.

MacKinnon called the decision a creative solution by not sending the matter directly to binding arbitration — as the government did in the disputes at the railways and ports.

He said this doesn't mean a deal will be automatically in reach by May, but hoped the inquiry can show a path forward that works for both Canada Post and its workers.

"There are major structural changes in that industry that have to be accounted for," he said.

"There are workers' aspirations in that industry that have to be accounted for. Those have proved to be interests that are tough to reconcile. So I'm looking to try and triage those issues."

The postal workers' union denounced the decision, calling it "an assault" on the right to collective bargaining.

"This order continues a deeply troubling pattern in which the government uses its arbitrary powers to let employers off the hook, drag their feet, and refuse to bargain in good faith with workers and their unions," the Canadian Union of Postal Workers said in a statement.

Canada Post workers who were gathered outside a delivery centre east of Toronto on Friday morning expressed mixed feelings about the news.

Striking worker Kirk Gonnsen said he feels workers were let down by Canada Post and the government, but he's happy that workers struggling to pay their bills will be able to earn some money again.

Union member Denise Caster accused Canada Post of not being willing to engage in "good faith" talks.

"I want to get back to work, we all want to get back to work," she said. "We were hoping to get back to work with a fair negotiated contract."

Canada Post said it's reviewing the details of the announcement and that it looks forward to getting back to work.

It added its commitment has always been to reach negotiated agreements.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business welcomed the move. It estimates small businesses have been losing a combined $100 million every day.

"This will be too late to salvage any of the Christmas holiday season for small businesses," CFIB president Dan Kelly said in a statement.

"With a massive backlog, it will be nearly impossible for any new shipments to make it to Canadians before Christmas through Canada Post."

Kelly said the resumption of mail will help businesses waiting for cheque payments from customers. He said lack of mail delivery has made it hard for small businesses to pay their bills.

MacKinnon acknowledged the effect on small businesses and remote communities, as well as on passport deliveries, immigration paperwork, and health cards. He said there are 50,000 permanent resident cards yet to be mailed, 190,000 passports, and the Canada Revenue Agency is holding more than 1.65 million pieces of secure correspondence.