Canada Post's rotating strike virtually shut down a plant that handles two-thirds of the country's parcel deliveries.

OTTAWA – The federal government on Wednesday named a special mediator in an effort to put an end to alternating walkouts at Canada Post, which forced the company's largest sorting facility to close for a second day.

Labor Minister Patty Hajdu announced the appointment of Morton Mitchnick just hours after the Canadian Union of Postal Workers announced that he would keep his members on picket lines in the Greater Toronto Area .

"Morton Mitchnick is a highly respected chief umpire and past chair of the Ontario Labor Relations Board," Hajdu said in a statement.

"Mr. Mitchnick joins the team of federal mediators from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service who work with both parties."

Hajdu said she hoped the new mediator "would bring a new perspective to the negotiating table".

Nearly 9,000 CUPW members left work in the Toronto area early Tuesday as part of the rotating walkouts that began Monday to support contract demands. They remained on the picket lines on Wednesday and were joined by about 250 postal workers in Kelowna, British Columbia. who joined the walkout at 6:00 am local time, confirmed Canada Post.

The action at Gateway's giant parcel center in Mississauga, Ontario, which processes about two-thirds of all parcels mailed to Canada, and to the south-central mail processing plant in the United States. East of Toronto, has imposed delays in sending tens of thousands of letters. and parcels across the country.

These delays were expected to continue on Wednesday, although Canada Post said it would do its utmost to deliver mail and parcels outside of Toronto.

"Customers from across the country should expect delays in parcel and mail delivery," said Canada Post spokesman Jon Hamilton, adding that the agency continues to operate in the rest of Canada and accepts and distributes mail and parcels to all other locations.

The union said the walkouts will continue until Canada Post softens its contract proposals for rural and urban carriers.

The union and the postal services were unable to conclude new collective agreements for both bargaining units after 10 months of negotiations.

On Monday, walkouts put an end to postal activities in Victoria, Edmonton, Windsor, Ontario and Halifax, causing little delivery problems outside these cities.

CUPW, which represents 50,000 postal employees, has asked Canada Post to address issues related to the explosive growth in the number of packages delivered, including health and safety issues and precarious work.

The agency said on Tuesday it has made openings to the union in an effort to alleviate some of these concerns.

However, CUPW fears the abuse of temporary staff.

The union wants Canada Post to provide greater job security by creating more full-time positions, saying temporary workers are always paid less, are not covered health care plans, dental care and illness or disability, are not guaranteed and can not plan their future.