Canada Post offers up cooling-off period deadline but union has just until 5 p.m. to respond

Canada Post has recommended a “cooling-off period” of about two months in which the company and the union representing its workers try to end a lengthy dispute.

The Crown Corporation said today that as part of the cooling off, the rotating strikes that have hit the company in various parts of Canada would need to come to an end “immediately.” During the cooling-off period, the two sides would again turn to a mediator and “introduce a process to achieve a final resolution.”

“With the rotating strikes, resulting backlogs, and the massive Black Friday and Cyber Monday volumes that will arrive within days, we are trying everything we can to work together with the union – urgently – to deliver the holidays to Canadians,” Jessica McDonald, Chair of the Board of Directors and Interim President and CEO of Canada Post, said in the Canada Post statement calling for the cooling-off period. .”This proposal also includes a way for the parties to resolve their differences and these negotiations.”

As far as the tight deadline, Canada Post said part of the reason for it is operational. “After that time, Canada Post would lose its last window of opportunity to clear the backlogs before the oncoming wave of volumes reaches its facilities,” the company said.