Negotiations grind to a halt between Canada Post and union

Negotiations between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) have ground to a halt, with Canada Post saying it was informed through the special mediator that CUPW will not be responding at all.

However, CUPW said this does not tell the whole story, and that the union left the meetings Nov. 26 since it could not proceed without Canada Post’s negotiators.

“The union negotiators did tell the special mediator that we were unwilling to talk about one particular employer demand – something we have discussed at least a dozen times in bargaining already. Canada Post is fully aware of how far CUPW is willing to go – they just don’t like the answer,” the CUPW statement said. “We hear from Canada Post that there is no intention of ‘gigifying’ the workforce at Canada Post, but many of Canada Post’s proposals are directly aimed toward a race-to-the-bottom competition with multinational corporations.”

CUPW said Canada Post’s proposals have included attacks on full-time work where it wants to increase the part-time mix to more than 50 per cent of the workforce when they have over 5,000 part-time and over 12,500 temporary employees now.

“Some of these part-timers would end up being scheduled as few as eight hours per week. They wouldn’t be eligible for any benefits until they reach 1,000 hours, which could take as long as two and a half years. This is not an increase in the mix, it is a full-on assault on good-paying, full-time jobs,” said the CUPW.

Canada Post said that approximately 95 per cent of its delivery team is made up of full-time employees and that its approach would create new regular, permanent part-time jobs, providing greater opportunities for temporary employees to become permanent, with guaranteed hours, schedules and eligibility for health and pension benefits.

“We have consistently put forward proposals that are critical for the future of the postal service and important to the Canadians we serve, while protecting our current employees,” Canada Post said. “Our proposals would add a greater mix of part-time and full-time employees to our delivery model to respond to the daily variations in parcel volumes and provide weekend delivery.”

The two parties have been working with the assistance of a special mediator since Nov. 18, but progress has been limited.

CUPW members and its labour allies are gathering for a rally at Canada Post’s head office at 2701 Riverside Drive in Ottawa on Nov. 28.