Canada Post has declined an offer from the postal union to continue contract negotiations for two more weeks, the union announced Wednesday.

With the required 72-hour notice, both parties would have been in a position at 12:01 a.m. Saturday to begin job action – either a strike by some 50,000 postal workers across Canada or a lockout of union employees by the Crown corporation’s management.

But as of noon today, neither Canada Post nor the union had served the three-day notice.

Union spokesman Tom Jackson said today from B.C.’s Lower Mainland the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has no intention of serving the notice because it feels there is still the opportunity to negotiate a collective agreement.

There are 49 postal workers in Whitehorse represented by CUPW and 17 in the communities, according to figures provided by the union.

Utility companies and the City of Whitehorse are advising their customers and city residents to make alternate arrangements for payments, particularly online banking or automatic payment authorization, should there be any disruption of mail service.

With the July 4 deadline for payment of city property taxes, the city is also advising residents to be aware that if they post their payment after today, it might not get postmarked before the deadline.

The city uses the postmark to determine if payments are late. So if the property tax payment mailed after today gets stuck for a couple of weeks, the postmark might read July 15 when it arrives, city spokeswoman Gaelle Wells explained Wednesday.

Wells said residents can make property tax payments at city hall up until 5 p.m. Monday, keeping in mind Friday is a holiday and after that there is the potential for job action.

The city also has a drop box where payments can be left, she pointed out.

ATCO Electric Yukon and Northwestel Inc. are also advising customers who don’t use online banking that they can call their offices to obtain alternate payment information.

Both the union and Canada Post acknowledge there is a wide range of topics still up for negotiations, including pension plans, wages and equal pay for equal work.

The three-year contract for rural postal workers expired Dec. 31, 2015. The four-year contract for urban workers expired Jan. 31 this year.

A conciliator was appointed in April but the 60-day conciliation period expired June 10 without success, kicking off what is referred to as 21-day cooling-off period.

The cooling-off period will end at midnight tomorrow, opening up the possibility of job action but not before the 72-hour notice is provided.

By Chuck Tobin Star Reporter