The Canada Post strikes extended to Vancouver, Sudbury, Niagara Falls and Saint John, NB.

Vancouver and Niagara Falls, Ont., Were added to the list of cities affected by postal disruptions this week as more and more members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers left the position on rotating strikes.

Approximately 3,400 CUPW members in Vancouver left the position Friday morning, joining Canada Post employees in the Niagara and Sudbury regions of Ontario, and Saint John, NB, who launched an action in favor of contracts.

CUPW members are organizing rotational walkouts across the country while a special mediator is trying to end the labor dispute.

On Tuesday, Labor Minister Patty Hajdu named Morton Mitchnick, former chair of the Ontario Labor Relations Board, to help both parties resolve their contractual disputes.

Canada Post has announced that it will work with the special mediator in the hope of reaching a negotiated settlement and has indicated that he will remain at the bargaining table.

"We remain committed to the bargaining process," said Crown agency spokesman Jon Hamilton in a statement.

The postal workers returned to work late Thursday in Calgary and early Friday in Sherbrooke and Red Deer, Alberta, after walking for 24 hours on picket lines.

Nearly 9,000 CUPW members left two days earlier this week in the Greater Toronto Area, causing delivery delays for tens of thousands of Canadians waiting for letters and parcels across the country. The postal workers in Kelowna, BC have also joined the group but have since returned to work.

"Our members would rather do their job than walk on the picket line, but Canada Post has not given us a choice," said Mike Palecek, the union's national president, in a statement.

"Canada Post needs to come to the negotiating table ready to discuss important issues: health and safety, equality for rural and suburban mail carriers and the end of precarious work."

CUPW and the postal service were unable to enter into new collective agreements for both bargaining units after 10 months of negotiations.

Canada Post made "important offers" to CUPW – including increased wages, job security and better benefits – and asked for no concessions in return, Hamilton said.

He added that Canada Post was working to restore service and eliminate backlogs of mail and parcels.

"Canada Post continues to operate in the rest of Canada and accepts and distributes mail and parcels to all other locations," said Hamilton.