SUDBURY - Local postal workers are “furious” the Canada Industrial Relations Board has legislated them to return to work at 8 a.m. Tuesday without a new collective bargaining agreement.
“They wanted us all along to be legislated back to work, and they just found a loophole to make it happen,” Canadian Union of Postal Workers Local 612 president Charlene Bradley told Sudbury.com on Monday morning.
She represents the Sudbury District, which stretches west to include Manitoulin Island and includes more than 300 postal workers.
The return to work order follows direction by Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon and a weekend of hearings with Canada Post and the Canada Industrial Relations Board declaring an impasse in negotiations. MacKinnon invoked Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, which allows the minister to direct the board to take whatever actions the minister “deems necessary.”
Along with a return to work order is a five-per-cent wage increase for members backdated to when their latest collective agreement expired, which was Dec. 31, 2023, for rural and suburban mail carriers and Jan. 31, 2024, for the urban unit.
The current union contracts have been extended through May.
“It’s definitely not a fix, and it’s putting a Band-Aid on a wound and you keep ripping it off,” Bradley said, adding that by the time next summer hits, they’ll be in the same position again.
“And then, what, lock us out again and force us back to work again? It’s a vicious circle that’s happening here, instead of negotiating.”
Bradley’s take echoes that of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. In a media release issued on Dec. 13 in response to MacKinnon invoking Section 107, they denounced it as an “assault on our constitutionally protected right to collectively bargain and to strike.”
The union put in their latest offer on Dec. 9, which Canada Post dismissed as widening the gap in negotiations rather than working to close it.
Although details on workers’ impending return to work were still hazy this morning, Bradley said they’ll return with a significant mail backlog dating back to Nov. 15.
“It will take some time to get that backlog out,” she said.
“Will it all be done before Christmas? I don’t know. We’re pretty good workers, we work hard because our end goal is to serve our customers, our public and do the best we can.
“We want to get the mail out, we want to do our jobs, we want Christmas to happen.”
Postal workers didn’t want to go on strike, she said, adding that Canada Post forced their hand when they threatened a lockout.
By mid-day Monday, Bradley had yet to receive full details of local workers’ return to work plan. Sudbury.com will update this story in the event we receive greater insight regarding local implications.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.