Pressure rises on federal government to intervene in Canada Post strike

The business community is ramping up pressure on the federal government to intervene in the ongoing Canada Post strike, which is on its 20th day.

The Retail Council of Canada said Tuesday that the strike by more than 55,000 workers countrywide is putting businesses and their employees in jeopardy.

The federal government has so far resisted calls for it to intervene in the strike, even though it intervened in other labour disputes earlier this year.

Federal mediation was put on pause last week as the two sides appeared too far apart to reach an agreement.

Canada Post said it presented a new framework for reaching agreements over the weekend to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, which said it needs to see key issues like wages and the expansion of postal services addressed before it can make a deal.

One of the key issues in bargaining has been the push to expand Canada Post delivery to the weekend, as the two sides disagree over how best to make it happen.