Jobs minister presses Canada Post, workers to reach a deal

Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu is calling on Canada Post and its union to return to the bargaining table to hash out terms for binding arbitration.

In a social media statement Wednesday, the minister also asked the Crown corporation and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers to continue to work toward a deal outside of that process.

She says arbitration is not the preferred path, but suggested the stage would be set for an imposed settlement if the two sides could not find common ground themselves.

The minister says Canadians expect the parties to resolve the impasse and that federal mediators are standing by to help.

On Friday, Canada Post asked Hajdu to force a union vote on its "final offers," while the union requested binding arbitration, which the employer rejected.

After a month-long strike last fall, the union has again been in a legal strike position since May 23, but has instead opted to ban members from working overtime while negotiations continued.