Canada Post workers to finish vote on ‘final’ offers

Unionized workers at Canada Post are entering their final day to vote on the Crown corporation’s latest contract offer.

Voting is set to wrap up today at 5 p.m., with results expected to be shared shortly after.

The offer includes wage hikes of about 13 per cent over four years but also adds part-time workers that Canada Post has said are necessary to keep the postal service afloat.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has urged the roughly 55,000 postal service workers it represents to reject the proposal.

If workers reject the offer, the union says it will immediately contact management and invite them to return to the bargaining table, but it says further strike or lockout actions could risk the government intervening with back-to-work legislation or a binding arbitration order.

The vote, which opened July 21, is being administered by the Canada Industrial Relations Board, which stepped in after federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu intervened in the labour dispute.

The union has said a strong no vote would not only reject the offer, but also protect the integrity of the bargaining process.