The Canada Post strike must end, business groups tell Ottawa

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The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, along with its provincial partners, are urging government officials to take immediate action to resolve the ongoing Canada Post strike that has shut down the Crown corporation for two weeks.

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In a letter sent on Friday, the trade union said it was raising concerns from members across the country about “yet another” supply chain.

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The group said the disruption is having a major impact on Canadian e-commerce businesses, many of which rely on large amounts of revenue during the holiday season.

“We ask that you intervene immediately and resolve this dispute, because we cannot allow Canadians to continue to pay the price of unemployment,” the letter said.

The letter, written by the Minister of Labour, Steven MacKinnon, and the Minister of Public Works and Procurement, Jean-Yves Duclos, revealed the damage the postal workers’ strike has done to Canada’s retail industry, as well as the “huge impact on northern, rural and rural communities.”

“While we appreciate your cooperation and efforts for all parties to resume negotiations and federal mediators, Canadian families, communities and businesses need to see a solution,” the letter said.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), which represents about 55,000 workers, is on strike starting Nov. 15.

Negotiations between Canada Post Corp. and CUPW were temporarily suspended by a special union arbitrator on Wednesday. The Minister of Labor said that he requested that the two parties meet in his office that day.

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“They will be told that, as in all disputes, they alone are responsible for the outcome of this dispute, and its resolution,” he said on the X website, suggesting that the federal government will not intervene in the labor dispute by presenting it. return to work rule.

Speaking to reporters later Wednesday, MacKinnon said sending the matter to arbitration is “not in the cards,” even though he has called on the authority to resolve labor disputes at Canada’s ports and railways in recent months.

The Chamber of Commerce said Canadian stores have been under pressure in recent years, not just because of natural disasters but weeks of port strikes in British Columbia and St. down the great harbors to the east and west.

Canada Post confirmed Thursday that it has terminated some of its striking postal workers as labor negotiations with the union stalled.

• Email: dpaglinawan@postmedia.com

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