NDP prepared to stall legislation in Canada Post strike

POSTMEDIA NEWS

The NDP says the party is ready to use every trick in the book to delay passage of back-to-work legislation, and help ensure locked-out Canada Post employees have as much time as possible to negotiate a settlement with their managers.

Neither NDP leader Jack Layton nor the party whip, Chris Charlton, offered details on which strategies the party plans to use for a filibuster.

But all their MPs have been told to do what they can to get out of their weekend plans, and to not make any new commitments.

The Conservatives, who introduced the bill Monday, won’t back down from a lengthy battle, but are working to have it passed as quickly as possible.

Canada Post locked its employees out June 14, after 12 days of rotating strikes by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

Less than a week later, Labour Minister Lisa Raitt tabled Bill C-6, which would force the employees back to work at wages lower than those proposed in a settlement offer the Crown corporation had on the table.

Opposition MPs have condemned the wage reductions specifically and the bill as a whole, saying it undermines the right to collective bargaining.

There’s no saying how long the debate on the bill itself will take, even though the House is scheduled to begin its summer break Thursday.

The longer the debate goes, the more time Canada Post employees and managers have to reach a settlement on their own terms — a “fundamental right” this legislation denies workers, NDP members say.

If the House passes the bill before Canada Post reaches an agreement with the union, the bill will be handed to the Senate for further debate. If the Red Chamber also passes the legislation, the last step is for the Governor General to give his stamp of approval.

Conservative Senator Claude Carignan, deputy leader of the government in the Senate, said the Senate is prepared to sit “as long as it takes to pass the government’s agenda.”