Your comments on the Canada Post back-to-work bill

Locked-out Canada Post employees wave to passing motorists in Dartmouth, N.S. Members of Parliament passed back-to-work legislation Saturday night. (Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press)

Mail service could resume within days as members of Parliament passed legislation Saturday night to send 48,000 Canada Post workers back to work.

The bill, which imposes a four-year contract, was expected to pass quickly through the Conservative-dominated Senate, where proceedings began at 11 a.m. ET on Sunday.

The back-to-work order would go into force 24 hours after receiving royal assent, Labour Minister Lisa Raitt told MPs.

Canada Post locked out the employees on June 14, after the union conducted 12 days of rotating strikes.

The bill has been a hotly debated topic among CBCNews.ca community members. On June 17, we asked you whether you thought Ottawa should pass back-to-work legislation for Canada Post employees. As of June 25, more than 20,000 votes had been cast. Nearly 57 per cent of respondents said "yes," compared to about 41 per cent who said "no." The remaining voters were undecided.

Here's a look at some comments from our community:

The government is right when it says that striking postal workers can hurt the economy, and therefore, getting the workers back is a good idea. However, the opposition is also right in that the government shouldn't force a contract on either side, either directly or indirectly. There are lots of essential services people who, from time to time, work without a new contract. Doctors, nurses, police officers, firefighters, have all gone without contracts at certain times in the past. It doesn't mean they shut down essential services. But it doesn't mean the governments lock them out, or force contract conditions on them either.

Unfortunately, both sides are to blame when workers and management arrive at this point. It means they don't understand they have common interests. Canada Post can't stay in business without its workers, and workers need to understand that Canada Post cannot survive by doing business the same way it did 40 years ago. You would think that both sides would get that by now." -smiller8

• Essential services = life and death, not inconvenience. - DebbieDomestic

• All the arguments that say we absolutely need the postal workers back on the job, because of the importance of the mail serve to support the idea that they should be well paid for what they do. Isn't that how it works in a market economy- we pay higher for what is in higher demand. That's capitalism - not socialism. - calmncool

• "Many people really do not know what is involved in being a Postie. Walk in the shoes. Most of you would not last a week!" - WatupWitDat

Some disagreed with the NDP's efforts to stall the bill. Members of Parliament debated the legislation in a 58-hour filibuster, before the official opposition backed away from its proposed changes.

• "Mr. Layton seems to be forgetting he is representing ALL Canadians. Those like myself and countless others who rely on this service to survive. Yes, just simple day to day survival. Thousands of Canadians are without work and would gladly start immediately working to restore things. Our economy is faltering, people are homeless and hungry. Snap out of it Mr. Layton. What about the majority of Canadians?" - yomo123

• "If the NDP really want the mail to start moving why don't they allow the legislation [to] pass? If they continue holding things up they should be doing without pay as a lot of us are doing now. I am a contract driver hauling mail and have now been 8 days without work and therefore without pay. There are a great number of contract drivers in the same state. We do not belong to the union and therefore have no say in what happens. We are hostages the same as mail in the system." - LeBarron
  

Other commenters were critical of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his government.· 

• "Canada Post is a crown corporation and therefore should be able to be legislated back to work. However it is important that the union breaking tactics by Harper be recognized and therefore it is a must that both sides be called back to the bargaining table in good faith and if they can't hammer out a deal then they need mediation. Seriously unions are a needed thing and for the businesses out there and employees out there that say they don't need them well get a clue. Do you want to be working for wages like you see in 3rd world or whatever countries?" - DeViLs2010

• "I wonder how many Conservatives in the House have family members who are postal workers (excluding executives). When we lose the right to strike, which we won only last century, we will be letting corporations, whether private, public, or Crown, tell us what is safe and what is not, what is fair and what is not. That is not democracy because a corporation, as a legal entity, is not part of the demos. - DHHall

There was also discussion about whether Canada Post should continue to exist as a Crown corporation.

• "Perhaps we should just shut CP down. Within a short few weeks we'd have a suitable substitute service provided by private enterprise." - Caseyatbat  

• MurrayBolger offered this reply: "And who do you think would deliver our mail to every corner of the country in a timely, efficient, and professional manner for .59 cents?" 

• Like so many writers have pointed out, the only mail I get from Canada Post in unwanted advertising and solicitations. For this we have to pay mega $millions in subsidies? Gee, thanks! If we HAVE to have a government post delivery, once a week is good enough, and NO garbage. Otherwise let them go the way of the dodo, and let private couriers do the job. - mazinaw

• I agree with Mazinaw. Cut the mail delivery back to once or twice a week. Nothing sent through the mail is that critical - if it were it wouldn't be sent through the mail! Take all the money saved and funnel it into health care. - UMustBKiddingMe

Related: Do you agree with the House's decision to pass the Canada Post back-to-work bill?

Related: Should Ottawa force posties back to work?