Judge Overseeing Canada Post Arbitration Steps Down

The postal workers' union is calling for the next judge to be bilingual, and to have actually had experience in handling labour talks.

The arbitration talks between Canada Post and its employees have hit a snag after the judge appointed by Labour Minister Lisa Raitt to handle the talks has resigned from the posting. Judge Coulter Arthur Anthony Osborne had been overseeing the labour talks since the Conservative government passed back-to-work legislation in June to end Canada Post's lockout of its 48,000 employees. At the time, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and opposition MPs decried the facts that Osborne was neither bilingual nor too well versed in labour relations. Last month, a Federal Court ruling ruled that the arbitration process had to be put on hold until the court could hear from both sides why Osborne was or was not a worthy candidate. Osborne appears to have taken the courtesy of bowing out before the process could be dragged out even further, meaning Raitt will have to appoint another judge to bring the arbitration process to a close. CUPW is hoping that she'll appoint a judge that can speak both official languages and has an inkling of a background in labour relations, as this the CUPW/Canada Post spat has been one of the country's biggest labour disputes in years. Greedy, greedy CUPW.