The federal government has spent the week fast-tracking legislation to put the country's postal employees back to work before Parliament's summer recess.
Bill C-6, "An Act to Provide for the Resumption and Continuation of Postal Services," was tabled by the Conservatives Monday and is expected to be passed by the end of the week.
Unusually, the bill contains a provision dictating pay scales for the returning workers, and the legislated wage increases are even lower than the last offer by Canada Post.
The Crown corporation recently offered the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) increases of 1.9 percent in 2011, 2012, and 2013, and 2.0 percent in 2014. The Conservatives' bill lowers those numbers to 1.75 percent in 2011, 1.5 percent in 2012, 2 percent in 2013, and 2 percent in 2014.
Union representatives expressed outrage over the bill's unbalanced treatment of the negotiating parties.
"To be completely honest, it's childish at this point. It's embarrassing that the federal government and Canada Post has decided that they can take away the right to free collective bargaining in this country, and take a bunch of things off the table that they had offered before," said James Rohatynsky, secretary/treasurer for local 860 (Yorkton) of the CUPW.
The government's wage figures are based on the last settlement between Canada Post and the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the other union representing the country's postal workers.
As of press time, the two sides are preparing final offers in the dispute. An arbitrator will make a binding decision between these submissions.
Postal workers in Canada have been locked out of work since June 15 in response to the rotating strike action they began at the start of the month.
