Canada Post workers across the country are officially back to work after the senate passed legislation to end five weeks of rotating strikes.
Mail service operations are now back to normal.
Here's what the federal labour minister Patty Hajdu had to say on Tuesday:
“This was the appropriate time to move forward with this legislation. As I mentioned in many debates, that there was a significant growing economic harm to the country. Small businesses were struggling, rural communities were struggling and there really wasn't a way forward for the two parties they were at a complete impasse."
“I’m gratified that after two days of intense debate, the senate did in my view, what was the right thing, and passed this legislation.” said Senator Peter Harder.
A mediator will now help Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers come to an agreement on a new contract.
But the union isn't happy about it, calling for a campaign of mobilizations, demonstrations, and non-violent civil disobedience in the coming days.
Striking Canada Post employees in northern Ontario also made one last stand in their rotating strikes Tuesday morning.
The postal workers remain unhappy not only about the lack of progress after eleven months of bargaining with Canada Post, but also at the government's back-to-work legislation, which they say takes away their right to strike.
"We're pretty disappointed, especially with being legislated back to work. Because what this legislation does, it sort of takes the power to negotiate and the power to strike, basically, away from us and give more power to Canada Post. The backlog, there is about a million parcels or so, which we’re still going to backlog, but it takes pretty well one day, one day to deliver that many parcels across the country. So, was there much of a backlog? No, no there wasn't." said CUPW Local 612 President Alan McMahon.
We're also told people should be getting mail and parcels soon if they haven’t already.
