Canada Post strike must end, business groups tell Ottawa

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The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, along with its provincial counterparts, are urging government officials to take immediate action to resolve the ongoing Canada Post strike that has shut down operations at the Crown corporation for two weeks.

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In a letter sent on Friday, the chambers of commerce said they are raising the concerns of members across the country about “yet another blow” to supply chains.

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The group said the disruption is having the greatest impact on Canadian businesses engaged in e-commerce, many of whom were counting on a considerable amount of revenue over the holiday season.

“We urge you to immediately intervene and resolve this dispute, as we cannot allow Canadians to continue to pay the price of inaction,” the letter said.

The letter, which was addressed to the Minister of Labour, Steven MacKinnon, and the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, Jean-Yves Duclos, pointed out the damage the postal workers’ strike was having on Canada’s retail sector, as well as its “considerable impacts on northern, rural and remote communities.”

“While we acknowledge your engagement and efforts to have all parties resume negotiations alongside federal mediators, Canadian families, communities, and businesses need to see a resolution,” the letter said.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), which represents roughly 55,000 employees, has been on strike since Nov. 15.

Talks between Canada Post Corp. and the CUPW were temporarily suspended by the special federal mediator on Wednesday. The labour minister said he had requested that both parties meet at his office that day.

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“They will be told that, as in all disputes, they alone are responsible for the consequences of this conflict, and for its resolution,” he said in a post on X, suggesting the federal government would not intervene in the labour dispute by introducing back-to-work legislation.

Speaking to reporters later on Wednesday, MacKinnon said sending the matter to binding arbitration “is not in the cards,” even though he invoked that authority to resolve labour disputes at Canadian ports and railways in recent months.

The chambers of commerce said Canada’s supply chains have been under constant strain in recent years, due not only to natural disasters but the weeks of port strikes in British Columbia and the St. Lawrence Seaway, and the labour disputes that paralyzed Canada’s rail network and shut down the country’s largest east and west coast ports.

Canada Post confirmed on Thursday that it has laid off some of its striking postal workers as labour talks with the union stalled.

• Email: dpaglinawan@postmedia.com

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