The head of the union representing striking Canada Post workers in Windsor is "extremely disappointed" after the federal labour minister announced measures to get the employees back to work.
President of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers Local 630, Tish Glenn, was protesting outside the Tecumseh Road constituency office of Windsor-Tecumseh Liberal MP Irek Kusmierczyk when the decision was announced Friday.
Federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon says he's "calling a timeout"' in the Canada Post strike and asking the Canada Industrial Relations Board to send about 55,000 employees back to work.
Mackinnon says the Crown corporation and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers are at an impasse after a nearly month-long work stoppage, and negotiations are actually going in the wrong direction.
Mackinnon says if the board agrees the two sides are at an impasse, it has been asked to order union members to work under the current collective agreement until nearly the end of May, 2025.
Glenn says this is not what we wanted.
"We've been out here for four weeks. Our demands were not hard demands or difficult demands. We wanted a fair living wage, we wanted safe working conditions, we wanted health and safety standards met, and we wanted the right to retire with dignity," she says.
Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) Local 630 represents 520 members who include clerks, letter carriers, transportation, maintenance workers, and mechanics.
Glenn says each and every one of their members held the line for something that they need.
"Not just for themselves but for the future and the next generation. Your children, maybe your grandchildren. This is what we've been out here doing; it's not just about us as postal workers; it's about us as Canadians, for each and every one of us," she says. "That's all we wanted, a fair collective agreement that's negotiated; the best ones are negotiated ones."
Glenn says this has been difficult.
"I know, as proud postal workers, we know our jobs. That's why we were out holding the line, because we do know our jobs and we do deserve these demands that were on the table. We just wanted them to negotiate in good faith," she says.
The federal government is also establishing an inquiry to determine why the two sides cannot come to an agreement.
Mackinnon says he's asked the board to make a decision quickly and hopes the mail will be delivered again starting next week.