Tuesday December 10, 2024 | NATIONAL [Posted at 8:56 am PST | Updated 12:54 pm]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
On Monday evening December 9, Canada Post said it had received the latest offers from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), and expressed “extreme disappointment” that the union’s intent “appears to be to widen the gap in negotiations, rather than close it”.
Canada Post says that in the last few weeks they have made “several important moves to close the gap and reach negotiated agreements”. But they blame the union which they say has “reverted to their previous positions or increased their demands”.
The government has repeatedly said they will not step in with any back to work legislation, expecting the two sides to work out an agreement at the bargaining table.
The CUPW strike started November 15 and has by now impacted most Canadian consumers and businesses who would have relied upon Canada Post postal and delivery services during the Christmas holiday season.
“With our nationwide strike now in its 4th week, we have waited far too long for Canada Post to bargain in good faith. True progress requires meaningful engagement, not surface-level proposals, or new demands that derail progress,” says CUPW in their media statement on Dec 9.
A speedy solution is not expected by Canada Post, as stated by the crown corporation that says it realizes their impact on employees, businesses, charities and northern communities “that were hoping for a speedy resolution”.
Meanwhile as negotiations continue, Canada Post said in their December 9 update that they are “conducting a full review of the offers for the Urban and RSMC (Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers) bargaining units.
But the union says in their December 9 release: “We cannot continue with management steamrolling workers with random ideas they have to change work rules and impact our safety.”
Financial loss, core business:
The crown corporation is facing financial losses (their seventh consecutive loss coming up for 2024) but also the larger decision of whether to modernize its service offerings. Canada Post is up against the real need of workers to have a substantive living wage but is overdue for examining the real role of where it fits within the delivery service ecosystem. Canada Post continues to state: “Our core business is delivery”.
Canada Post says it has lost over $3 billion since 2018. It seems surprisingly that the federal government has not yet turned full attention to the possible new future for their crown corporation that employees so many people. The core mission of the postal service might need to be changed to something more than delivery.
Both sides need to assess the future:
Canada Post does state that they want to provide “affordable and reliable weekend delivery”. They want to maintain their “largely full-time delivery workforce while creating weekend part-time positions” that provide benefits, guaranteed hours and opportunities for temporary employees.
In that context, one wonders about the commitment of the current workers to the value of the work of the corporation, if they are in a sense shutting out new workers or work scenarios that could — in the long run — help them keep their jobs, not lose them.
===== RELATED:
- Canada Post issues a ‘framework’ hoping to reignite talks (December 1, 2024)
- Canada Post worker strike highlights corporate slack (November 30, 2024)
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