Canada Post says union’s latest proposals are unaffordable and unsustainable

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has submitted its most recent proposals to Canada Post, addressing several issues it says helps bring the two parties closer to an agreement.

The union said when it comes to overtime, it agreed to allow Canada Post to take potential overtime from route holders and assign work at straight time to unassigned relief and part-timers on extension, which the union said will save costs.

CUPW also said it agreed to a combined relief complement to cover vacation and other absences. All depots will have a minimum “base” relief of 22 per cent of the full-time assignments. In place of bar charts, there will be a new method to calculate additional relief that will account for all absences on a quarterly basis. The union said this will allow for greater coverage of absences at straight time and less overtime, which is said is another cost savings for Canada Post.

For peak periods, the union said it agreed to extend the length of those periods and allow Canada Post to start training peak period temporary employees beginning in October.

Despite some of these proposals, Canada Post said after a review, it determined that the union’s demands are unaffordable and unsustainable, adding billions of dollars in long-term fixed costs.

“Added up, all the demands in CUPW’s latest offers would cost more than $3 billion over four years, at a time when the postal service is already recording large financial losses,” Canada Post said in a statement. “Some of the big-ticket items include wage increases and staffing changes. Canada Post will record another significant loss in 2024, the seventh consecutive annual loss for the corporation. Since 2018, Canada Post has lost more than $3 billion.

“The union’s demands would also further reinforce the status quo, when the postal service must transform to meet the changing needs of Canadians and businesses. The latest CUPW offers for the urban and rural and suburban mail carrier units do not address Canada Post’s urgent requirements to modernize its operations.”

Canada Post shared some of the proposals from CUPW that it says is “far from where they need to be,” and those include:

Wages

• The union has proposed wage increases of 19 per cent over four years, including a nine per cent increase in the first year, while Canada Post has offered wage hikes of 11.5 per cent over four years (11.97 per cent compounded).
• Canada Post said it recognizes that CUPW has moved on its wage demands, but the union’s proposal remains well beyond what it can afford, given its significant losses and deteriorating financial position.

Personal/medical days

• CUPW is demanding 10 medical days a year on top of the seven personal days already in the collective agreement.
• Canada Post is proposing 13 multi-use personal days per year, protected and built into the collective agreement. This includes the six additional personal days per year that employees received as a result of changes to the Canada Labour Code in 2022. Employees would have flexibility on how to use the six additional days (e.g. personal day, vacation, sick leave, etc.)

Making contracted staff permanent employees

• Canada Post said the union continues to focus on adding workers they don’t represent, which would add further unsustainable long-term fixed costs. For example, CUPW continues to demand that Canada Post’s facility cleaning staff and other contracted support services become permanent employees.

Flexible and affordable delivery

• To better serve customers and align with their evolving needs, Canada Post said it needs a delivery model that allows it to deliver seven days a week and more quickly adapt to the growing ecommerce market.
• Canada Post has proposed creating new staffing positions that would support weekend delivery, providing permanent jobs with guaranteed hours and benefits.
• Canada Post has also proposed measures (dynamic routing) that would allow it to plan and optimize delivery routes based on volumes, delivery addresses and pickups. Although it has signaled that a dynamic routing model is necessary to secure its future and remain competitive, Canada Post said the union has refused to engage or propose any solutions regarding dynamic routing.