The union representing Canada Post workers said it will be in a legal strike position on Friday, exactly one year after talks on a new contract began.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) said in a statement early Tuesday that its executive board was giving the required 72-hours notice for both its rural and urban mail carrier bargaining units.
The union said that despite talks that began on Nov. 15, 2023, “the parties remain far apart on many issues,” including wage increases, pensions and medical leave.
CUPW was in a legal strike position as of Nov. 3, after a legally mandated cooling-off period. In a vote last month, more than 95 per cent of both urban and rural workers backed a strike mandate, the union has said.
The union representing Canada Post workers said it will be in a legal strike position on Friday. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers said that despite talks that began Nov. 15, 2023, ‘the parties remain far apart on many issues,’ including wage increases, pensions and medical leave.
But in the statement early Tuesday from CUPW president Jan Simpson, the union said it hasn’t decided if a job action will take place immediately, saying it “will depend on Canada Post’s actions at the bargaining table in the days to come.”
Canada Post said in a statement on its website that it intends to continue delivery services while at the negotiating table.
“However, the ongoing possibility of a labour disruption has been significantly eroding Canada Post’s volumes and escalating the negative financial impact on the company,” the statement read, adding that unless a new agreement is reached, the current collective agreement will no longer apply as of Friday.
Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon told CBC News on Tuesday that the government is offering “mediation support” in the talks.
“We are hoping to achieve a deal at the table. The issues at hand in the Canada Post negotiations are substantial. They’re significant,” the minister said.
“There’s a lot of work to do, and I know the parties are negotiating today. We will make every effort possible to keep them at the table and keep them talking, and we hope to achieve a negotiated settlement there.”
$3 billion in losses since 2018
Canada Post has said in recent strike-related statements that it’s at a “critical juncture” and that its “deteriorating financial situation could require the company to revisit its proposals.”
It warned that continued labour strife will adversely affect the company and have consequences for customers over the upcoming busy holiday period, especially in rural communities.
The threat of a labour disruption was already “rapidly impacting” its revenue, the company said last week, with retailers switching service providers in anticipation of a strike and the volume of mail and parcels “down significantly.”
The Crown corporation recently proposed annual wage increases amounting to 11.5 per cent over four years and has said it wants to negotiate “a more flexible and affordable delivery model” that would include parcel delivery seven days a week.
Canada Post said in a recent news release that it lost $490 million in the first half of 2024, part of a total $3 billion lost since 2018. Losses before tax for 2023 were $748 million, due to lower volumes of transaction mail, higher delivery costs and competition from a post-pandemic surge in parcel delivery services.
“These competitors grew rapidly, leaning on their low-cost-labour business models that rely on contracted drivers to provide lower prices, plus greater convenience with evening and weekend service,” the company said in its annual report from May.
The Crown corporation sold off parts of its business earlier this year, including its IT and logistics departments, to stay afloat. But experts have said that its efforts to sell and outsource its operations wouldn’t be enough to save the company.
Impasse over weekends, disability plan
Canada Post’s proposal to expand parcel delivery service to evenings and weekends — which it says will allow it to compete with other mail and parcel carriers — has been a point of contention during negotiations.
The company says that CUPW has been resistant or “has required serious constraints” on the flexible delivery proposal, which it says would negate any potential benefits of the change.
Craig Dyer, president of the St. John’s-based chapter of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, says workers are demanding a fair deal. At this point, workers could give a 72-hour strike notice or Canada Post could issue a 72-hour lockout notice.
The union says it wants to ensure that the company’s plans around flexible delivery won’t impact its workers’ regular, full-time weekday routes.
CUPW has also said that Canada Post has been unwilling to improve its short-term disability plan. The union is asking for 10 medical days and seven personal days to be included in its collective agreement.