Canada Post, union for striking workers make their case at labour board hearings
Workers could be forced back to work if tribunal determines a deal isn't doable
Canada Post and the union representing striking workers took part in weekend hearings by the country's labour board on whether the two sides have reached an impasse.
As the work stoppage hits one month, the Crown corporation said it will notify Canadians "as quickly as possible" when its operations resume.
The hearings took place in Ottawa on Saturday and Sunday, a Canada Post spokesperson said.
Mail could begin moving again across the country early this week after the federal government pushed Friday to end the work stoppage at Canada Post.
Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order the 55,000 picketing employees back to work within days if the tribunal determines a deal isn't doable before the end of the year.
The minister's directive would also extend the contract between the Crown corporation and its employees until late May.
Canada Post declined to specify whether it told the board this weekend that the two sides were deadlocked after bargaining in good faith — a situation that would likely see mail trucks rolling again this week.
A federally appointed mediator withdrew from the talks two weeks ago, saying at the time the sides were too far apart to make a deal.
Business groups had been calling on the government to intervene as companies and individuals scrambled to find alternative modes of delivery with the holiday shopping season in full swing.
The labour minister's office said on Sunday that a decision from the labour board is expected on Monday or Tuesday but noted that the ruling is out of the government's hands.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers called for a rally outside Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland's office in Toronto on Monday morning, said the Toronto and York Region Labour Council, which is also behind the event.
The council deemed MacKinnon's intervention a "massive violation" of workers' rights, echoing the union's denunciation of the decision last week.
"In response to a government which has clearly shown its willingness to intervene on behalf of the employer, Canada Post Corporation has refused to bargain fairly or in good faith," the council claimed in a news release on Sunday.
Ottawa used Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to issue its directive on 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 on the job and impose binding arbitration.
MacKinnon called the move a creative solution by not sending the matter directly to binding arbitration — as the government did in the earlier standoffs.
"We're calling a timeout," MacKinnon told reporters in Ottawa on Friday. "Suffice to say, positions appeared to have hardened, and it became clear to me we were in a total impasse."
Canada Post, which did not call for federal intervention, said on Sunday its goal "has always been to reach negotiated agreements" with the union.
"We remain committed to doing so within this new process while also meeting the postal needs of Canadians."
The union did not respond immediately to requests for comment.