The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has called for a Canada-wide overtime ban for its members in response to lacking offers from their employers at Canada Post. The union and the crown corporation have been negotiating a new collective agreement since November 2023.
This ban means workers are being called on to refuse to work any more than eight hours in a day and refuse to work more than 40 hours in a week.
This is the second job action taken by CUPW in six months. In December, the union held a five-week strike before then Labour Minister Steven Mackinnon asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order employees back to work. The old collective agreement was extended to May 22.
Negotiations have continued since December but the parties still have not reached an agreement. Canada Post tabled new global offers on Wednesday that included a defined benefit pension, job security provisions, health benefits and post-retirement benefits and up to seven weeks of vacation. The corporation offered a wage increase of six per cent in year one, three per cent in year two and two per cent in year three and four.
Under the existing collective agreement, urban mail handlers make $21-$28 an hour. The living wage in Canada differs between provinces and municipalities but sits at an average of $23.19 per hour according to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. In some B.C., the living wage often sits above $26 per hour.
CUPW said their offers fall short in multiple ways. First, the wage offers amount to an increase of 13 per cent over four years which is less than the 19 per cent increase the union is demanding. As well, the proposed benefits program creates a two-tier system which could disadvantage some workers.
The union also called out the corporation’s having the collective agreement restate the personal days workers are entitled to under the Canadian Labour Code.
“Writing them into the collective agreements is helpful, but is window dressing,” CUPW’s national president,Jan Simpson, wrote in a statement on the union website.
In light of these offers, CUPW proposed a two-week truce to allow the bargaining team to review the proposal in detail but the union said Canada Post declined.
Canada Post’s position is swayed by corporate losses
Since the first job action in December, an Industrial Inquiry Commission, led by Commissioner William Kaplan, looked into the positions of both parties. The commission’s final report was released May 15. Kaplan said the problem facing both parties is the ongoing existential threat to Canada Post as a corporation.
Canada Post has three lines of business: letter mail, direct-marketing mail and parcel mail. These lines contributed 33 per cent, 14 per cent and 50 per cent to the corporation’s operating revenue respectively. Letter mail and marketing mail are decreasing because of a shift to digital and Canada Post’s parcel mail has to compete with the private sector.
CUPW and Canada Post both agree that the market has changed and the corporation must focus on parcel delivery in the future. Commissioner Kaplan said he also agrees with CUPW’s assertion that Canada Post must remain a public service.
The union has proposed multiple measures to increase the corporation’s revenue while still maintaining Canada Post’s role as a public service. CUPW’s suggestions include expanding into banking, financial, and insurance services, reintroducing the Food Mail Program in the north, providing grocery delivery more generally, turning post offices into community hubs, especially in more isolated regions, using letter carriers as a check-in service on Canada’s aging and disabled population and expanding into providing passport and other government services.
Canada Post is aiming to address its financial challenges swiftly by calling for an end to the government moratorium on rural post office closures and community mailbox conversions. As well, they say they may need to make “in-depth, transformative change” in the long-term. This could possibly include changes to the pension and retirement benefit plans.
Commissioner Kaplan ultimately recommended an end to door-to-door delivery, except for businesses, the lifting of moratorium on post office closures and the creation of part-time jobs for weekend deliveries among other things. CUPW said these recommendations amount to service cuts, contracting out, and major rollbacks to important provisions in existing collective agreements. They said they also counter the union’s years of campaigning to expand the public post office.
In his report, Kaplan said there is a need for “hard-headed, practical thinking” to ensure Canada Post can continue without ongoing subsidies from the federal government. He also said it may be hard for the corporation to fulfill its duty to be self-sustaining under current conditions, though it could happen with changes to the Canada Post Corporation Act, the Postal Charter, and some of the current restrictions in the collective agreement.
CUPW said they have provided suggestions that could address Canada Post’s ongoing issues and service expansion has a record of proven success of revenue generation for many major post offices around the world. Support rabble today!
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As CUPW moves forward with their overtime ban, they say they aim to minimize disruption but will take further action if necessary, especially if Canada Post changes working conditions, suspends benefits, or begins layoffs.
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