Talks ‘grind to a halt’ between union and Canada Post as federal mediator suspends talks

Negotiations between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) have “ground to a halt,” the country’s national postal service said Tuesday evening, as the nationwide postal strike entered its 12th day.
Federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon confirmed the stalemate in a post on the social media platform X Wednesday morning, writing that the special federal mediator “has decided to temporarily suspend mediation.”
“This pause in mediation activities will hopefully permit the parties to reassess their positions and return to the bargaining table with renewed resolve,” MacKinnon wrote. “As soon as productive bargaining can begin anew, the special mediator will re-engage the parties. Canadians are counting on them to create these conditions quickly.”
MacKinnon also said that he invited both parties to his office and that they “will be told that, as in all disputes, they alone are responsible for the consequences of this conflict, and for its resolution.” 
In a statement, Canada Post said it is “considering its options to move negotiations forward.” CUPW said that “things could not be more urgent for our side.” 
Beyond the decision to suspend mediated talks, there does not appear to be any immediate sign of intervention from the federal government. In a French-language interview Monday with the morning show Salut Bonjour, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that the best result will come at the bargaining table and that, for now, the federal government will let negotiations play out.
Still, the decision to temporarily suspend mediation demonstrates the extent to which the parties are far apart, even if it’s difficult to predict just how long the strike will last, said Adam King, an assistant professor of labour studies at the University of Manitoba. 
“It seems to suggest that the sides are pretty dug in in their positions and that Canada Post does not seem to be treating the situation as urgently as it declares publicly,” King said. 
Outside government, the Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify has been ramping up its calls for federal intervention ahead of Black Friday.
In a post on X Tuesday, Alexandra Clark, the company’s vice-president of public affairs, said the federal government “must intervene,” calling the situation “insanity.” Last week, Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke said that “at least” 67,000 small businesses on their platform rely on Canada Post.
Negotiations between the two parties appear to have broken down over disagreements about Canada Post’s delivery model and wage increases for workers, among other concerns.
In its Tuesday statement, Canada Post said its proposals would “add a greater mix of part-time and full-time employees to our delivery model to respond to the daily variations in parcel volumes and provide weekend delivery.”
CUPW, in turn, said that this “is not an increase in the mix, it is a full-on assault on good-paying, full-time jobs.”
Canada Post says it has offered wage increases totalling 11.5 per cent over four years and additional paid leave, while protecting the defined benefit pension and job security provisions.
But the union has called for a cumulative wage hike of 24 per cent over four years.
The changes to the delivery model, however, look to be the major sticking points, King said.
“They seem very stuck on increasing the share of part-time workers, which is, I think, the major sticking point for the union at this stage,” King said.
In addition to small businesses, personal mail has been impacted, as have holiday season charity drives, library loans and the delivery of health cards.
Lori Harrington, the interlibrary loans co-ordinator at the Ramara Township Public Library in the rural Simcoe County community of Ramara, Ont., has a room full of books waiting to be returned to other libraries. She said some of the town’s older residents require large print books that are loaned from other libraries and that, due to financial, technological or accessibility concerns, they can’t simply make the switch to ebooks as they wait out the strike.
Without Canada Post, she’s unable to send and receive library materials from branches across the province.
“Our patrons really count on us acquiring other things that they need from other libraries,” Harrington said. “Our hands are tied right now.”
With files from The Canadian Press