Canada Post union negotiator balks at labour minister's calling for a 'time-out'

Power Play: CUPW reacts to federal intervention CUPW negotiator Jim Gallant discusses the federal government's announcement it will intervene in the postal strike.

This week, Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon announced a "time-out" in the ongoing Canada Post strike. In a way, Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) negotiator Jim Gallant says he agrees with that phrasing.

"I feel like he's treating us like children," Gallant told CTV Power Play host Mike Le Couteur in an interview on Friday. "It's time-out, that's for sure."

In a press conference on Friday, MacKinnon said he was tapping the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to intervene in negotiations that have reached what he calls "an impasse."

The minister asked the board to "assess the likelihood" of a negotiated agreement this year, and if resolution proves unlikely, order the union back to work.

"The Government of Canada places great importance on collective bargaining as the preferred means of resolving the disagreements between employers and workers," a statement from the minister's office reads. "However, the ongoing conflict between (CUPW) and Canada Post has reached a critical point."

Should the strike be suspended through a CIRB ruling, the existing collective agreement between the carrier and its workers would be extended until May 2025, a move Gallant says would have the union "start over from day one," potentially bringing more disruptions.

"If we were to go back out on strike, the public, our members; who's going to put up with that twice in a year?" Gallant said.

The labour dispute, now more than four weeks old, has seen limited exchanges between the parties since the suspension of formal mediation at the end of last month. Earlier this week, CUPW scaled back its demands for a wage hike, but the postal carrier has said it's still asking for too much.

"The union’s demands are unaffordable and unsustainable," reads a Wednesday statement from Canada Post. "While we recognize that CUPW has moved on its wage demands, the union’s proposal remains well beyond what the Corporation can afford, given its significant losses and deteriorating financial position."

This isn't the first time the federal government have stepped in to end a CUPW strike.

In 2018, following weeks of rotating postal disruptions, federal Liberals passed back-to-work legislation, with the strike's official end coming roughly a month after it began.

On Friday, a statement from the union said this year's time-out "continues a deeply troubling pattern" of government powers standing in the way of what CUPW calls "good faith" bargaining with employers.

"It throws a bucket of water on negotiations for all unions in the country," Gallant told CTV News. "He keeps saying he's not going to order you back to work, not order you back to work; and then, he orders you back to work."

For Canada Post's part, the carrier said Friday that while its commitment has been to seek a negotiated agreement, it was working to ensure it was prepared to "fully participate in the process and comply with the Minister’s directive."

"While that unfolds, we look forward to welcoming our employees back to work," a statement reads.

With a CIRB decision now looming, Gallant again expressed his disappointment.

"You're always at an impasse until you have a deal," he said.