On the picket line with Canada Post workers
After weeks of rotating strikes, Canada Post employees discovered late Tuesday that the Crown corporation locked out its 50,000 workers. Canada Post spokesman Jon Hamilton said the rotating strikes were having a "huge impact" on the business and "the time is now to get a deal with the union."
Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) members stand in front of a Canada Post sorting facility in Toronto, June 15, 2011. Canada's national postal system locked out its employees on Wednesday, saying more than a week of rotating strikes by its unionized workers had cost it too much moneyMark Blinch/Reuters
Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) members stand in front of a Canada Post sorting facility in Toronto, June 15, 2011.Mark Blinch/Reuters
Mail trucks are seen as they are parked behind a chained up fence after the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) were locked out at a Canada Post sorting facility in Toronto, June 15, 2011.Mark Blinch/Reuters
A Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) member sits in front of a Canada Post sorting facility in Toronto, June 15, 2011.Mark Blinch/Reuters
A notice is seen posted on a fence as the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) were locked out a Canada Post sorting facility in Toronto, June 15, 2011.Mark Blinch/Reuters
Labour Minister Lisa Raitt speaks to reporters following the Conservative caucus meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, June 15, 2011.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
A locked out Canada Post unionized workers walk a picket line in Ottawa on June 15, 2011. Canada Post suspended urban mail operations across the country after 12 days of rotating strikes by its 48,000 unionized urban workers.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Locked out Canada Post unionized workers stand at the entrance to the main plant in Halifax on June 15, 2011.Andrew Vaughan
A locked out Canada Post unionized worker stands near the entrance to the main plant in Halifax on June 15, 2011.Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press
Members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Local 126, postal clerk John Nolan, waving CUPW flag, letter carriers Susan Stratton, Maxine Keeping, Sharon Mackey and Jennifer Edison, left to right, acknowledge horn honking motorists passing them by in St. John's.Joe Gibbons/The Canadian Press
CUPW national president and chief negotiator Denis Lemelin holds up a picture of mail sitting at a Canada Post facility as he speaks with the media in Ottawa. The union representing postal workers says Canada Post wants to provoke a national strike in a bid to encourage the federal government to introduce back-to-work legislation.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
A mailbox covered over by a "closed" sign greeted people wanting to mail letters in Calgary, Alta., Wednesday, June 15, 2011.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press