Arbitrator appointed to decide Canada Post union deal
The Canadian government has now appointed an official arbitrator to negotiate the details of a new contract between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW). Canada’s Labour Minister Lisa Raitt said on Friday she had appointed the Honourable Justice Coulter Osbourne to direct the final talks between the Corporation and the union’s Urban Operations Unit.
A member of Canada’s Olympic basketball team in the Melbourne Games of 1956, Justice Coulter has been practicing law since 1959, and was appointed to the Supreme Court of Ontario, High Court of Justice, in 1978.
He was subsequently appointed to the Court of Appeal for Ontario in 1990 and was Associate Chief Justice of Ontario in 1999.
Over the last few years, he has completed a major review of the civil justice system for the Attorney General and has been engaged in a number of dispute resolutions, mediations and arbitrations.
“Justice Osborne has accumulated a wealth of experience as a law practitioner and his experience will be invaluable in settling outstanding matters,” said Minister Raitt. “I urge both parties to extend their full co-operation to him.”
Members of the CUPW urban unit went back to work at the end of June after almost a month of strike action and operational shut-down as a result of failure to agree a new collective bargaining agreement with Canada Post.
Back-to-work legislation forced a new deal between the two sides, including salary levels, but left details and conditions for an arbitration process to decide.
Minister Raitt’s office said both sides will now present their final offer for Justice Osborne to decide on a new agreement. From the time offers are presented, the arbitrator will have 90 days to set out his decision, although the government can provide an extension if required.
