OTTAWA — Proposed legislation that would force 50,000 locked-out Canada Post workers back to the job passed in the House of Commons Saturday evening, after more than 48 hours of continuous debate, and with no changes.

Labour Minister Lisa Raitt, who introduced the bill Monday, said postal workers will be back on the job 24 hours after Bill-C6 becomes law.

The bill still has to pass through the Senate — a process the federal government has said can be accomplished within one day — and senators will be in the red chamber Sunday to debate the proposed legislation.

The NDP had vowed to draw out the debate for as long as possible, giving the feuding managers and unionized workers an opportunity to come to their own settlement, rather than one drafted by government.

But by Saturday afternoon, as the marathon debate continued, union representatives said no agreement was going to be reached and thanked the NDP for delaying a vote on the proposed bill.

In a letter to NDP leader Jack Layton, the president of the union said the stalling tactics bought them time, but it wasn’t enough to end the impasse.

“During the evening of June 24, we held extensive discussions,” Denis Lamelin wrote, noting the union, Labour Minister Lisa Raitt and federal mediation services also had met Saturday morning. “Despite your efforts and the support and solidarity activities of tens of thousands of people across the country, the negotiations were unsuccessful.”

And with that, the union asked the NDP to move the process forward and instead of filibustering the process, present amendments to the bill.

Opposition MPs condemned the bill as a whole, saying it undermined workers’ rights to collective bargaining.

But the main sticking point over the bill was the wage settlements the federal government wrote in — which were lower than the last offer Canada Post had put on the table earlier this month.

The NDP introduced an amendment to that part of the bill, bringing the wages higher than proposed in the bill. But the Conservative majority defeated it, along with every other amendment presented Saturday.

“We held (government) to account, and we’re very proud of having created that negotiations could take place,” NDP deputy leader Thomas Mulcair said after the long-drawn-out debate finally wrapped.

Prime Minister Harper, leaving the House of Commons with Raitt, said the filibuster was “completely unnecessary,” but was proud of his labour minister’s ability to ensure Canadians regain access to their mail.

In a statement released Saturday night, union president Lamelin echoed the concerns of opposition MPs, saying the passing of the bill sets a dangerous precedent.

“The government is clearly willing to side with employers to grind down wages and working conditions,” he said.

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

The Crown corporation blamed the two weeks of rotating strikes for estimated losses of $100 million.

Canada Post and the union went through seven months of failed negotiations before the rotating strikes began.

Aside from wages, changing the sick leave plan has also caused contention between the two sides; Canada Post had fought for a short-term disability plan to replace the practice of banking sick days.

With a file from Althia Raj

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