Canada Post and the union representing its postal workers are set to return to the bargaining table on Wednesday after talks originally planned for last week were delayed.
Last week, the union and the company said a lack of available federal mediators prevented the two sides from sitting down on Friday and this past Monday.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) said in a statement that federal mediators were unable to assist “due to their current involvement in the Air Canada negotiations.”
Those negotiations concluded early Tuesday morning when Air Canada and the union for its flight attendants reached a tentative collective agreement.
In a statement, CUPW national president Jan Simpson said that deal showed “what can be achieved when workers stand united.”
CUPW members rejected Canada Post’s “best and final offers” earlier this month after a two-week vote administered by the Canada Industrial Relations Board.
The union has been calling on Canada Post to restart negotiations ever since, and Wednesday’s talks will mark the first sit-down between the parties following the vote.
Negotiations between the two parties for a new collective agreement have been ongoing for more than a year and a half.