Potential Postal Disruption on Pause until end of weekend

Monday marks the next deadline of
note when it comes to a possible
Postal disruption

Update: Friday morning, Canada Post indicated its willingness to continue discussions during a thirty day cooling off period in hopes of reaching a negotiated settlement. The agreement to the cooling off period is with a condition that the two sides would go to binding arbitration would take place should the talks fail.

The union has not outlined its response to the latest move to this point.

Original story

Whether we receive mail next week would appear to depend on how receptive negotiators are to the concept of a cooling off period, the suggestion of a thirty day break to reduce tensions the latest offering from CUPW the union which represents postal workers in the nation.

Negotiations have been taking place in on and off spurts for much of this week as the two sides, Canada Post and CUPW went back to table to try and reach some form of common ground to address the list of concerns that has the postal service poised on the verge of a shutdown.

Alternating press releases for the most part tracked the progress, or lack of in this case, of those negotiations, as deadlines were extended through the week, taking us to the cusp of the weekend.

On Thursday, The union declined the option of binding arbitration that had been proposed by the federal labour minister, a move that Canada Post had agreed to, citing it as an option to reach a resolution.

However, the suggestion of binding arbitration appears to have strengthened the resolve on the union side, with a message to the membership which called for solidarity and urged members to keep their strength in the face of a potential lock out.

The call for the cooling off period was relayed through a media advisory from CUPW which notes that the thirty days could provide the opportunity for full negotiations to succeed.

There has been no reply as of yet by Canada Post when it comes to the union's suggestion of the cooling off period, leaving Canadians with the prospect of the expire of the 72 hour notice period on Monday at 12:01 AM, that makes for the next deadline of note where either a strike or lockout may take place.

Some of the latest media notes on the labour dispute can be found below:

Union requests 30-day 'cooling off' period
Union requests 30-day cooling-off period to avoid lockout
What will and won't be delivered if there's a Canada Post work stoppage
Canada Post  work stoppage: it's a lockout, not a strike

Notes following the acceptance of a proposed 30 day cooling off period

Offer of 30-day bargaining truce flounders over 'poison pill': postal union
Canada Post agrees to 30 day truce for talks without strike or lockout

Past notes on the ogoing labour discussions at Canada Post can be found on our Labour archive page.