Workers at Canada Post remain on strike this week, and it seems the two sides are going nowhere fast in settling the labour dispute.
In fact, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) says federal government intervention has “destroyed” this round of bargaining.
“Postal workers aren’t just fighting for fair agreements. We’re also fighting a political battle against successive anti-labour governments that have shown zero respect for workers’ Charter-protected rights to free and fair collective bargaining,” CUPW national president Jan Simpson said in a statement Monday.
“Every time the government has stepped in, it has only made reaching new collective agreements that much harder.
“With every intervention, the government has pushed the parties farther apart.”
Simpson said that’s especially the case now following the government’s announcement of changes to Canada Post, including the end of door-to-door mail delivery.
“When Minister Lightbound made his announcement to gut our public post office on September 25, the government gave Canada Post permission to make even worse offers than the ones postal workers had just decisively rejected in forced votes in July and August,” Simpson said.
“Bargaining should move the parties closer together. The cuts announced by the government are what Canada Post wanted to see…
“Now we see those cuts reflected in Canada Post’s latest offers. We are in a downward spiral of government intervention at Canada Post’s request and an increasing distance between the parties at the table.”
Simpson said the government should be “doing the bidding of the public, not the corporation.”
“Rather than gutting the post office, the government should hold a fully public review of Canada Post’s mandate, like it said it would.”
For its part, Canada Post says its latest offers “enable the company’s modernization while balancing its financial realities with fairness and respect for employees.”
Canada Post says it continues to offer wage increases totalling 13.59 per cent over four years while maintaining CUPW’s pension and health benefits.
At the same time, Canada Post says that as a “temporary measure for the duration of its transformation,” it can’t maintain its existing “job security for life” provisions, which require the company to continue to provide full pay to an employee until they decide to leave, even if there is no work for them.
Canada Post says it is proposing a “transparent workforce adjustment process” that includes six months’ notice to CUPW, a period of consultation with the union, voluntary departure incentives of up to 78 weeks base pay, and “seniority-based bidding and bumping.”
“Layoffs will only be used if other measures, including attrition and departure incentives, prove insufficient to achieve reduction targets.”
Canada Post says that with “thousands of employees set to retire over the next few years, reducing the size of the workforce through attrition will always be the first choice, but it cannot be the only option through this transformation.”
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business is calling on the federal government to step in and end the strike.
“The government’s announced reforms to modernize Canada Post are long overdue and desperately needed,” said Dan Kelly, CFIB president.
“It is extremely disappointing that the union has chosen to punish Canada Post’s remaining customers rather than work with the corporation and government on a plan to implement the critical changes needed to make the postal service viable.
“Ottawa must step in immediately to end the strike and push forward with the announced reforms.”
The CFIB says last year’s strike, which lasted from November 15 to December 17, cost small businesses over $1 billion.
According to CFIB data, 13% of small businesses have stopped using Canada Post since the last strike. Nearly two-thirds said they would do the same if there’s another strike.
“Small businesses are one of the last groups of profitable customers for Canada Post. Every time there is a service disruption, more and more businesses leave Canada Post for good.
“The strike will make the job of saving Canada Post much more difficult,” Kelly added.
North Renfrew Times
While the post office strike continues, local subscribers are invited to pick up their copies of the paper from the NRT office at 8 Glendale Ave, Deep River. The office will remain open extended hours to allow for pickup.
Local and out of town subscribers may also request a copy of the newspaper in digital format by email.
Copies of the newspaper will be available in local stores as usual, and delivery to regular online subscribers will not be affected.
Thank you to our readers for your patience and continued support.
- The NRT website offers just a sample of what you’ll find inside each week’s issue. To get the full NRT delivered directly to your mail box or inbox each week, subscribe to our print or digital editions here.
