OTTAWA -- Calls for direct federal government action to end the labour dispute at Canada Post grew louder Tuesday as drawn-out talks aimed at averting job action by postal workers continued.
Justin Trudeau was again asked to get personally involved in the months-long dispute, this time by a group of prominent women from across the country who called on the prime minister to direct the Crown corporation to live up to its legal obligations on pay equity. A day earlier, small businesses that rely on web-based sales were encouraged to write Trudeau and demand legislation to break the impasse.
The issue of differences in paycheques for rural mail carriers -- most of whom are women -- and urban letter carriers has been at the forefront of protracted contract talks between Canada Post and its biggest union.
The negotiations have been extended twice since the weekend, when a deadline expired on a 72-hour job action notice issued last Thursday by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. The two sides were in talks nearly around the clock at the request of a special mediator appointed Friday by federal Labour Minister MaryAnn Mihychuk.
An open letter sent to the prime minister Tuesday called on Trudeau to keep his promise to support equal pay for work of equal value.
"We are asking you to use your influence to ensure that rural and suburban mail carriers achieve pay equity with (urban) letter carriers," the letter stated.
"It is 2016 and women and men who do virtually the same work should earn the same wages and enjoy the same benefits. Unfortunately, for a large group of women workers at Canada Post, this is simply not the case."
Trudeau, in China this week for a formal state visit, has steered clear of any direct involvement in the dispute, maintaining that he's confident the agency can reach a contract settlement with its 51,000 CUPW-represented employees through collective bargaining.
Tuesday's letter was signed by 200 women primarily from English-speaking Canada, including actress Sarah Polley, author Naomi Klein and social activists Maude Barlow and Judy Rebick.
It accused Canada Post of ignoring the law by trying to negotiate away pay equity rights enshrined under the Canadian Human Rights Act.
Also Tuesday, the country's biggest direct marketing firm, Direct Response Media Group, called on Ottawa to force a binding agreement between Canada Post and its employees to end the uncertainty over mail and parcel deliveries.
"This unpredictable situation is costly to businesses, communities and families across this country," said Direct Response CEO Jason Bradbury.
On Monday, e-commerce giant eBay asked its sellers to send letters to Trudeau, urging him to end the contract dispute.
That prompted an immediate response from the federal NDP, which condemned the eBay move as corporate interference.
By early Tuesday, eBay said more than 2,000 of its small and medium-sized retailers had signed a petition or sent letters to Trudeau to demand legislative action.
Canada Post has been bargaining with its employees for more than nine months, but both sides were far apart as of late last week on key issues including pension changes for new employees and pay scales for rural postal workers.
