The federal government is prepared to order an end to more than four weeks of rotating postal strikes if a collective agreement isn’t reached soon between Canada Post and the union for 50-thousand postal workers.

Labour Minister Patty Hajdu has reappointed a special mediator to help with bargaining.

CUP-W President Mike Palecek says while the union will be at the table, the threat of back-to-work legislation undermines the chances of negotiated settlements.

He suspects Canada Post is sitting back, waiting for Ottawa to step in and order an end to the dispute.

The post office says with the massive backlog created by the rotating strikes, Canadians can expect delivery delays through January.

(The Canadian Press)