Regular mail delivery could grind to a halt before the weekend if a deal with Canada Post is not reached by midnight, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) is warning.
The union — which represents 48,000 postal workers — has been negotiating with Canada Post Corporation for more than seven months. It has been in a legal strike position since June and last week set a strike deadline of 12:01 a.m. Friday. CUPW leaders warn that their members are prepared to support labour action if a suitable deal can't be reached.
Spokespeople from both the union and the corporation said that meetings are expected to continue right up to the deadline, with a Canada Post representative hopeful that the strike date is no more than a negotiating tactic.
"This isn't a drop-dead date, if negotiations are progressing. If they're moving ahead, they're not going to shut it down," John Caines, manager of national media relations for Canada Post told globeandmail.com. "If we get … to Friday and things are still moving, I don't anticipate there'll be any disruption, we'll just keep going."
A staffer at CUPW was more circumspect, saying only that the union would issue a statement immediately after midnight and then hold a morning news conference to describe "the state of negotiations."
Neither side will discuss which, if any, of the major issues have been settled in the week of intense negotiations since the strike date was set.
"Everything is tied to something else," Mr. Caines said. "… it's difficult to say what the outstanding issues are because they're all tied together."
Both sides are also reluctant even to identify with any kind of detail the issues that caused negotiations to reach an impasse last week.
The union says that the corporation is ignoring their "proposals for innovative changes," while the Canada Post says that they have to " take costs out of company and … change the way we do our business."
The union, which has pledged to continue delivery of social assistance and government pension cheques in the event of a walkout, will not specify what action it is considering for Friday. It has refused to rule out either rotating strikes or a system-wide shutdown.
During their last strike, in 1997, postal workers were legislated back to work after only two weeks, but not before incurring a painful and seemingly permanent drop in business. With e-mail more pervasive and courier companies better entrenched, the effects of a labour action could be greater this time.
"[A strike] obviously would inconvenience your customers, and there is the chance they won't come back," Mr. Caines acknowledged. "But we're not anticipating that, because we're think we're going to get a deal here."
