Canada Post labour dispute heats up

The federal government's decision to table legislation that would force Canada Post employees back to work comes after a series of rotating strikes by the mail carrier over the last five weeks.

Union leaders are mounting fierce opposition to what they say would be unconstitutional, vowing to fight the government's actions in court and on the streets.

Minister of Labour Patty Hajdu defended her government's legislation, saying it's not "heavy-handed."

"The government has provisions to use back-to-work legislation in cases where people are relying on a service essential to Canadians," she said in a media scrum from the House of Commons Friday. 

Mike Palecek, president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), said the government has mischaracterized the disruption to service, as strikes are rotating and essential cheques mailed to seniors and low-income Canadians are still being delivered.

Palecek said members are fighting for pay equity and safer working conditions as employees face an injury "crisis."

Small businesses hit by strike

In her scrum, Hajdu also touched on the impact the labour dispute has had on small businesses reliant on Canada Post to ship their products.

"When I say 'small,' I mean really small," she said. "I mean people that, you know, sell marmalade or hand-made goods, that this is the most profitable time of their year and if they are unable to make their earnings this time of year, they very well might be facing the end of their business."

Andrea Stairs is the general manager of eBay Canada, the popular online auction service used to buy and sell items. She agreed that small businesses are hurting from the strikes, especially as the holiday season ramps up with Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping.

"The large guys are able to adopt alternative shipping methods. It's the small, micro guys who can't negotiate favourable rates with a courier company," Stairs said in an interview that took place Friday on The House.

Stairs also pointed out the dominant role Canada Post plays in shipping and delivering packages.

"People think of Canada Post as being one of a number of alternatives," she said. "The reality is, Canada Post carries more than two-thirds of total e-commerce volume in the country. On a platform like eBay, they're carrying more than 80 percent of our volume. You can't just easily replace that share."

"The price point for CP services is significantly below the price point of courier services, too," she added. 

Stairs isn't sure what should happen next with the beleaguered postal service.

"Parcel volume is growing massively. I think we need to look at how the system is set up. I don't know if that means privatization or any other kind of ownership reform. I think that's really the mandate of the government to look at," she said.

In the meantime, the backlog resulting from the rotating strikes could take weeks to clear up, even going into the new year, said Canada Post.