Canada Post Lockout: Why the Need for Intervention?

With all the rhetoric surrounding the Conservative government's introduction of back to work legislation, it's worth looking at previous government reaction to work stoppages at Canada Post.

There is a long history of troubled labour relations at the corporation, for example, there were some 19 strikes, lockouts and walkouts between 1965 and 1997, but major postal shutdowns are rare.

For instance, the last time this union went on a full scale strike was in the fall of 1997. At that time, the strike ended two weeks later after the Liberal government brought in back to work legislation.

Fourteen days is not a long time, but it was considerably shorter than a couple of previous strikes which lasted 43 days in 1975 and 42 days in 1981. In 1978, the union went on a legal strike and was legislated back by the Liberal government on the very first day.

The scenario today isn't much different, except the public is far less inconvenienced. Technology has replaced the crucial need for the delivery of paper bills, email is replacing "snail mail" and there has been little outcry from average Canadians about the impact of the strike on their lives.

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Source: Huffington