Canada’s Senate has passed back-to-work legislation that brings an end to five weeks of rotating strikes by postal workers across the country.
Senators approved the back-to-work legislation by a vote of 53-25 late Monday night. Four senators abstained from the vote.
The government had deemed passage of the bill to be urgent due to the economic impact of continued mail disruptions during the busy holiday shopping and shipping season. It rushed the bill through the House of Commons late last week.
But senators, after holding a special sitting Saturday to debate the bill, insisted on taking a little more time to reflect on the constitutionality of stripping postal workers of their right to strike. They held another special sitting on Monday and only put the bill to a vote after more than five hours of additional debate.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers issue a statement declaring that it is "exploring all options to fight the back-to-work legislation."
"Postal workers are rightly dismayed and outraged," said CUPW President Mike Palecek. "This law violates our right to free collective bargaining under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms."
The previous Conservative government forced an end to a lockout of postal workers during a 2011 dispute by enacting back-to-work legislation, which was later declared by a court to be unconstitutional. But the Liberal government argues Bill C-89 is different, in that it does not impose immediate outcomes affecting postal contracts.
Canada Post said Monday that the backlog of mail and parcels due to the rotating strikes is "severe" and expected to "worsen significantly" once online orders from Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales are processed. In a statement, the post office said it is experiencing delivery delays across the country and that's expected to continue throughout the holiday season and into January.
Canada Post and CUPW have been engaged in contract negotiations for most of this year. The union wants better pay and job security, guaranteed hours for its 8,000 rural and suburban carriers, and equality for workers with the corporation's 42,000 urban employees.
