On August 1, postal workers represented by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) rejected a package of offers from their employer, Canada Post. The offer included a wage increase of 13.59 per cent over four years, the maintaining of workers’ defined benefit pension, the creation of new part-time positions, a signing bonus of $1,000 for full-time employees and $500 for all others.
The union was forced to take the vote by Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hadju and CUPW’s bargaining committee voted unanimously to recommend members reject the offer. Negotiators for the union said there were issues with a lack of route ownership, the creation of more part-time positions, contracting out, weakened job security protections that will lead to layoffs among other things.
Voting took place from July 21 to August 1 and resulted in just under 70 per cent of members voting to reject these offers. CUPW celebrated this result saying it demonstrated the union’s unity.
“With the Government’s help, the Corporation threw everything it had at us. The employer launched a propaganda campaign like we’ve never seen before,” CUPW national president Jan Simpson wrote on the union website. “For months now, we’ve heard nothing but scare tactics and fear mongering from Canada Post. And yet, members stood up, stuck together, and they made their votes count.”
Canada Post said they were disappointed by the results of the vote but wanted to thank employees for participating in the process and the Canada Industrial Relations Board for administering the vote.
While CUPW is celebrating the rejection of Canada Post’s offers, some are raising the alarm over the relatively high number of people who supported the offers.
Larry Savage, a labour studies professor at Brock University, shared a post on X (formerly Twitter) saying the union should pay attention to the 30 per cent of members who wanted to accept the offers.
“Yes, Canada Post’s strategy backfired. But the fact that over 30% of postal workers backed the employer’s ‘final’ offer should make the union nervous,” Savage wrote. “Makes for very complicated strategic choices going forward.”
Maria Pascual, a mail processing employee in Ottawa, said she chose to vote for the offers but understood why people rejected them.
“For me, a 13 per cent increase for the next four years is okay,” Pascual said. “Same with 13 personal days and whatever was in the newsletter they sent me.”
The mailers sent by Canada Post show the differences in messaging coming from the union and the employer.
Canada Post was sending newsletters claiming this vote was only about the offers on the table.
“We respect CUPW’s rights as your exclusive bargaining agent and will continue to do so,” Canada Post wrote in a mailer to employees.
A blog post by Jan Simpson highlighted how this vote was about protecting bargaining rights. The government’s decision to force this vote was met with much criticism from the Canadian labour movement. CUPW called the move an attack on bargaining rights. Bea Bruske from the Canadian Labour Congress said the forced vote was a serious violation of the principles of free collective bargaining which showed the government’s failure to remain neutral.
“The Government’s repeated interference has only emboldened the employer to avoid real negotiations,” Simpson wrote. “This is not just an attack on CUPW, it’s an erosion of collective bargaining rights across this country.”
READ MORE: Postal workers say forced vote is another attack on bargaining rights
Now that the vote is completed, CUPW is calling on Canada Post to return to the bargaining table. The union did not respond to requests for further comment. Posts on the union website say the vote has proven that negotiating at the table is the only way forward.
“This vote was not the end,” Simpson wrote in a blog post, “it was a declaration: we deserve better, and we will continue to fight for what’s fair.”
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