TORONTO — Federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt is asking Canada Post and its union to each give concessions to settle a dispute that has led to eight days of rotating strikes by postal workers across Canada.
After meeting with both sides Friday, Raitt said she asked the Canadian Union of Postal Workers to end its strikes that have hit cities like Montreal, Hamilton, Ont. and Edmonton.
She also requested Canada Post stop recent cost reduction measures that have led to fewer hours and lower pay for workers during the strike.
“Eight days have gone by since CUPW began strike action,” Raitt said in a statement after the meeting in Ottawa. “Canadians and businesses are starting to feel the impact.”
“The best solution in any dispute is one that the parties reach themselves.”
In her statement, Raitt didn’t specify whether the government would consider passing back to work legislation to force the 50,000 postal workers without a contract to return to the job.
The government ordered postal employees back to work in 1997, the last time they went on strike.
The meeting with Raitt came as 1,500 postal workers held strikes Friday in Quebec City and Kitchener, Ont. — the eighth day of rotating pickets that have hit cities throughout the country, beginning in Winnipeg last Friday.
A spokeswoman for the Canadian Union of Postal Workers said the union spoke with Raitt about Canada Post cutting health care benefits during the strike, and the effects on those with long-term illnesses.
Canada Post said contract talks have stalled as the two sides remain far apart on a number of issues, among them starting salaries and working conditions.
But both sides can’t come to an agreement on whether they’re still talking. The union says negotiations haven’t stalled, but simply slowed down.
The union says a mediator has asked both parties to review their positions. The two sides have not yet said when they plan to head back to the bargaining table.
The Crown corporation has said the union is resisting efforts to cut costs and meet the challenge of declining mail volumes.
Negotiators for both sides met in Ottawa on Thursday, while rotating postal strikes took place in 13 smaller cities across the country.
Canada Post says the strikes have had a disastrous effect on customer confidence and the Crown corporation’s revenue and mail volumes since the first walkout last week.
With Canada Post cutting mail delivery to three days per week, some Canadian businesses say they’re losing money and being forced to lay off their workers.
Toronto firm Smart DM has temporarily laid off about 40 per cent of its plant staff since the threat of a strike first began, although the summer is typically a slower time.
The company prints and mails bills, promotions and other documents for clients like credit card and hydro companies, and hands off about one million pieces of mail to Canada Post and the United States Postal Service every day.
“As soon as there was a discussion that there could be some work stoppage, that’s when our work flow started to change, that’s when clients started to say ’Wait a second, do we want our stuff stuck in the system,”’ said John Leonard, the company’s vice-president of sales and marketing.
He said companies are encouraging customers to switch to electronic bills during the strike, leading to declining mail volumes in the long run, which could make the layoffs at his firm permanent.
“My belief is that there’s been damage done already. The longer it goes on, the more possible damage that’s going to happen and its almost impossible to predict what that damage is,” he said, explaining it could take months to gauge the strike’s effects.
Meanwhile, striking postal workers got support from labour activists who rallied in Winnipeg.
Members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada marched down Portage Avenue towards a Canada Post building and rallied in support around lunch hour.