Lockout: Was Canada Post right to lock out its employees?

Canada Post locked out its workers Tuesday night and suspended all operations following 12 days of rotating strikes.

Workers at the Gateway Postal Facility in Mississauga, Ont., were handed a lockout notice when they showed up to work Tuesday night. (Tony Smyth/CBC) Mail delivery across Canada has been stopped.

Canada Post says that the rotating strikes had caused losses approaching $100 million as of Tuesday's strike in Toronto and Montreal and that the figure was climbing daily.

The corporation also cites "several incidents" that led to concerns about moving the mail while keeping employees and customers safe.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers said the lockout is an attempt to get the federal government to pass back-to-work legislation.

Robert Mulvin, president of the Vancouver CUPW local, said the rotating strikes had been effective in drawing attention to the postal workers' cause without overly disrupting mail delivery.

On Tuesday, federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt suggested that back-to-work legislation was not yet an option, unlike for the Air Canada strike, because the postal strike was not national in scale. The lockout now raises the possibility.

Related: Canada Post: How is the lockout affecting you?

Was Canada Post right to lock out its employees rather than endure rotating strikes? Will this move force the federal government to act? Let us know what you think.



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