Canadian mail strike expected to be averted

Both sides in contract negotiations at Canada Post said a large scale mail strike will be averted Friday, according to Canada Post Wednesday.

“We’re anticipating that we’re going to get a deal,” John Caines, a spokesman for the post office, told local reporters.

The 45,000 members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers have been without a contract since Jan. 31. Last month, 92 percent of postal workers voted in favor of a strike mandate over issues including salaries, subcontracting, retirement, work load and safety.

But with postal workers poised to walk off the job on Friday, union president Deborah Bourque said the two sides were “working really hard to reach a negotiated settlement and avert a disruption in postal service.”

Last year, Canada Post moved 9.8 billion pieces of mail, a number that has changed little over the past few years.