Canada Industrial Relations Board declares impasse between both sides and orders workers back
The postal strike that brought the country’s mail delivery to an absolute standstill is about to come to an end.
Striking Canada Post workers under the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) will be back on the job beginning Tuesday morning at 8 a.m. after the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) found that both sides were too far apart to come to terms before the end of the calendar year. Canada Post announced the resumption of work in a release late Sunday evening.
The federal government intervened in the month-long labour dispute on Friday when Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon asked the CIRB to see if there was any way a deal could get done. The CIRB held hearings on Saturday and Sunday with the decision that there was impasse between the union and the employer, thus ordering striking workers back on the job.
In a statement, Canada Post said while employees would be going back to work, normal operations wouldn’t resume until Tuesday morning.
Both sides will continue working under the terms of the expired agreement until May 22, 2025. Canada Post also offered a five per cent pay hike to employees returning to work retroactive to when the collective agreements first expired. The Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers deal ended on Dec. 31, 2023, while the urban unit deal expired on Jan. 31, 2024.
The pay hike was accepted by the union, meaning they’ll receive $1,000 before Christmas and the rest by the end of January.