Canada Post: union negotiations "stalled" as strikes continue
Postal union leaders insisted last night that differences with Canada Post will be solved at the negotiating table, after the Corporation warned that talks over a new wage deal have effectively run aground. With strike action in Canada now entering its second week, Canada Post said last night that it remains “far apart on several fundamental issues” from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.
The Corporation criticised the union for holding out for annual wage increases of around 3% over the four-year contract, and said it was offering nothing to help address declining mail volumes, increasing market competition and electronic substitution of physical mail.
“Major compromises” by Canada Post on issues like sick leave reforms and staffing levels were being rejected by the union, said the Corporation. The union has proposed joint committees to look into some issues, including the Short Term Disability Plan that Canada Post wants to use to reduce unnecessary sick leave.
Insisting its latest offer, based on annual wage increases that would bring the top wage rate to $26 an hour, was “fair and reasonable”, Canada Post said it could not accept the union’s current position.
The Corporation said in a statement: “Every effort has been made to reach a negotiated settlement that is in the best interests of employees, customers and the company. Canada Post again reiterated that it is unable to move or accommodate the union’s demands without jeopardizing the mail service that Canadians rely on.”
Last night, the union said it would be “calmly sticking to its strategy”, continuing strike action rotating through Canadian cities.
About 1,500 postal workers were due to strike for 24 hours in Quebec City and Kitchener, Ontario, from 11pm last night.
The CUPW described Canada Post’s stance that negotiations have now officially “stalled”, and its move to cut deliveries to three-days-a-week in the light of mail volume reductions, as “aggressive”.
But the union’s national president and chief negotiator Denis Lemelin said: “We focus on the issues at the bargaining table. Resolving our issues at the table will end this strike. So we will keep those issues in the forefront and go to the places where they are happening.”
“No-one is winning”
Previous strikes started on June 3, taking place in cities including Winnipeg, Hamilton and Montreal.
From Monday, Canada Post will reduce staffing levels in processing plants and cut mail deliveries to three days per week in the light that mail volumes have shrunk by up to 50% across the country, despite the rotating nature of the strike action.
Those who collect mail from rural or community mailboxes will not be affected, since the current union negotiations relate only to the CUPW’s 48,000 urban members.
The last postal strike in Canada, in 1997, saw workers ordered back to work by lawmakers after two weeks at the picket lines.
The mailing industry yesterday expressed little surprise that mail volumes have dipped by half as the public keeps away from their post offices.
The National Association of Major Mail Users (NAMMU) warned that small and medium-sized businesses were now “walking away” from the mail channel to other alternatives that may prove to be cost effective – and much of this business will not be back, it warned.
NAMMU president Kathleen Rowe said of the strikes: “No one is ‘winning’, least of all the small to mid-size businesses that make up the majority of the mail industry support infrastructure, forced to lay off employees, and in some cases close their businesses. Our estimate is 15,000 layoffs, and climbing.”
The Association urged Canada’s labour minister Lisa Raitt to bring Canada Post and the CUPW back to the negotiating table.
“NAMMU wants both parties back at the table quickly, to responsibly negotiate what they can and send to arbitration any outstanding issues. We need to get back to work,” she said.
