Once Again, Canadians Say It’s in the Mail

Mail delivery resumed Friday for the first time since Nov. 18 as striking postal workers returned to work under government order, but union leaders said disruptions in mail service will continue.

Darrell Tingley, president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, said some corporate and government mail may be misdirected and other mail might be processed even if it carries no stamps.

The strike by 45,000 workers against the postal corporation halted mail delivery just as the peak holiday season began, disrupting mail-order business and overburdening private courier services. The federal government initially was reluctant to intervene, but as pressure mounted from business, especially the Canadian Direct Marketing Assn., and from the political opposition, the ruling Liberal Party offered emergency legislation.

The law, rushed through Parliament in two days, includes a 5.15% pay raise over three years. That matches management’s final offer before the strike, but because the raise will go into effect later, it actually is worth about $700 less to each worker than was the prestrike offer. Other negotiating issues, including job security questions, will be subject to arbitration and mediation. The law threatens fines against individuals and the union if workers do not return to their jobs.

Tingley said his members will show up for work, but that “protests will go on continuously.”

He said mail of Canadian Direct Marketing Assn. members and other corporations will be targeted. “I don’t know where their mail will go,” he said at a news conference after the legislation passed Wednesday. “Some could end up, I suppose, going to Vancouver or Taiwan.” He also said workers will not check postage closely, permitting unstamped mail to slip through.

Government and Canada Post officials scoffed at the threats.