Canada Post issued notice to its staff late on Wednesday, extending its lockout notice from Friday until Monday at 12:01 a.m.
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The Crown Corporation issued a statement last night announcing that its previous 72-hour deadline, originally set to expire tomorrow, would now last through the weekend.
According to CBC News, Canada Post is open to the request if the union agrees to binding arbitration.
But Canada Post said it was willing to continue bargaining for another month only if the union agreed to binding arbitration in the event a deal could not be reached – a proposition CUPW had previously rejected.
The union has called Canada Post’s offer for wage increases “an insult”, as most of the increases are below one per cent, adding that it wants to see wage increases of between two and three per cent, depending on the employee’s pay grade.
A principle point of contention between the union and management is Canada Post’s proposal to switch new employees to a defined contribution pension plan, resulting in less security in retirement for those workers.
But the two sides are still believed to be very far apart.
Canada Post’s unionized workers say they will not agree to the “poison pill” demanded by management.
CUPW says it filed a formal complaint Wednesday with the Canada Industrial Relations Board alleging that Canada Post has refused to negotiate on the offer the union tabled a week before the union was in a legal position to strike and the corporation in a legal position to lock out workers.
Online sellers were facing a possible mail disruption in Canada due to a labor dispute between Canada Post and the CUPW union as early as today (Friday), but now the earliest date for a possible disruption has been pushed to Monday, July 11th.
As of yet, there has been no comment from Canada Post.
The union says rural and suburban mail carriers – most of whom are women – are paid nearly 30% less than their mostly male counterparts in larger urban centres.
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Prince George Postal Union President, Tami Brushey believes it was too soon for Canada Post to make that move.
