Article content continued

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has, however, challenged the claims of major backlogs, saying they have been highly exaggerated. The union said Wednesday that it counted about 70 trailers at the main Toronto facility, which could be cleared in a matter of days, along with a smattering of trailers elsewhere in Ontario and on the East Coast.

“It would appear that they’re up to their same old game, which is to try to provoke back-to-work legislation,” said Mike Palecek, CUPW national president in an interview.

“This is what Canada Post does again and again and again. They create a crisis, in this case a fictional one, and then wait for the government to bail them out. So we’re incredibly concerned that the government may be moving forward with legislation based on information that isn’t true.”

Canada Post said it has made a dent in backlog that hit a record last week, but it is still well behind as it goes into the busiest three weeks of the year.

“Normally at this time of year we would have about 100 trailers to work through across our facilities as we brace for the Black Friday rush,” said spokesman Jon Hamilton in an email.

“With our operations impacted by the ongoing strikes, we are five times that, with additional trailers of mail and parcels being held by customers and by international posts waiting for us to clear space for them to send.”

He said Canada Post has had to rent space off site to store trailers while they wait for processing, which the union may not be aware of.