Canada Post workers set to find out if they have a new tentative deal

OTTAWA — Postal workers are set to find out if they have a new tentative agreement more than two years into the labour strife, as the union is set to release its ballot results today.

Some 55,000 members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers began voting April 20 on a five-year contract that includes wage increases of 6.5 per cent and three per cent in the first two years.

Canada Post and the union have long sparred over wages and structural changes to the postal service, with workers having taken to the picket line on multiple occasions throughout the bargaining process.

Both sides agreed not to engage in any strikes or lockouts while the ratification vote took place, though employees are also casting ballots on whether to authorize a strike mandate in case they reject the deal.