Canada Post workers walk out as holiday shipping season approaches
Over 50‚000 postal workers in Canada started a nation-wide strike after year-long pay talks failed. Labour Minister appointed mediator while private shipping companies might see increased demand
A massive work stoppage hit Canadas postal service today when 55‚000 employees stopped their work (marking second major strike since 2018). The Canadian Union of Postal Workers took action after pay talks hit a dead-end before holiday shipping season
Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon isnt planning quick fixes: he wants both sides to work it out. “We need to let negotiation do its job‚“ he said in Montreal; the minister already dealt with other big disputes this year at ports and railways
The unions main requests include:
* Pay that matches todays high prices
* Better cost-of-living money added to base pay
* Safe work rules for everyone
Earlier this week‚ after giving three-days notice about their plans the union had to make a hard choice. “A whole year of talks didnt get us anywhere“ - thats what made workers pick this path. Canada Post said it would stop all work during this time-frame
Private delivery firms like UPS and FedEx might get extra business if this goes on - but theres history here. Back in 2018 the government stepped in to end a month-long postal strike. This time though MacKinnon picked a special go-between person to help both sides talk things through
