Labour Minister Patty Hajdu has tabled legislation to force Canada Post workers back on the job.
The bill to end the Canada Post strike was introduced in the House of Commons on Thursday morning. The bill is "to provide for the resumption and continuation of postal services."
The federal government has put forward a motion seeking to speed up the passage of the bill through the House of Commons.
The motion proposes to try to move the legislation through multiple legislative steps in one day, limiting the length of time MPs have to debate the proposed bill, and studying it in an hour-long “committee of the whole” meaning the House all together, rather than being sent off to a smaller committee for a longer study. If this motion passes, it is possible for the bill to pass the House of Commons within a day, but it would still need to be passed by the Senate before it could come into force.
MPs are currently debating this motion in the House of Commons, and already the postal workers union is vowing to fight the legislation in court, should it pass.
Speaking to the bill and plan to fast-track it, Hajdu cited the coming Black Friday sales and the reliance Canadians and businesses have on timely postal services, especially during the holiday season.
This legislation comes just a day after a special mediator was re-appointed in an effort to reach contract agreements between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.
CUPW members have been holding rotating walkouts for a month in an effort to back their contract demands, causing massive backlogs of unsorted mail and packages at postal depots.
With files from the Canadian Press