Ottawa named a special mediator Wednesday in hopes of ending rotating walkouts at Canada Post that forced closure of the Crown corporation's biggest sorting plants for a second day.
Labour Minister Patty Hajdu announced the appointment of Morton Mitchnick just hours after the Canadian Union of Postal Workers said it would keep its members on the picket lines in the Greater Toronto Area.
Mitchnick is regarded as a highly respected senior arbitrator and mediator, and is a former chair of the Ontario Labour Relations Board.
Hajdu said she hoped the new mediator would "bring a new perspective to the negotiating table."
Nearly 9,000 CUPW members walked off the job in the Toronto region early Tuesday as part of rotating walkouts that began Monday to back contract demands. They remained on picket lines Wednesday and were joined by roughly 250 postal workers in Kelowna, B.C. who joined the walkout at 6 a.m. local time.
The union has said the walkouts will continue until Canada Post sweetens its contract proposals for rural and urban carriers.
CUPW and postal service have been unable to reach new collective agreements for the two bargaining units in 10 months of negotiations.
On Monday, walkouts shut down postal operations in Victoria, Edmonton, Windsor, Ont., and Halifax, causing few delivery disruptions outside of those cities.
CUPW, which represents 50,000 postal employees, has called on Canada Post to address issues stemming from the explosive growth of parcel deliveries, including health and safety concerns and what's called "precarious" work.
