The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) filed for conciliation withthe Government of Canada last Friday as part of ongoing negotiations with Canada Post aimed atreaching a new labour agreement with the current one expiring on 31 January.
The union, representing 54,000 postal workers, said the appointment of aconciliator starts the clock ticking towards a possible strike or lockout by the end of April.Canada Post and CUPW began collective bargaining over a new labour agreement last October.
Denis Lemelin, CUPW National President and Chief Negotiator, commented: “We’ve taken this action because Canada Post has to move from its hard-line position on demandingsignificant concessions from our members, even while it continues to post profits and spend moneyon technological changes.”
Among the concessions that Canada Post is demanding, CUPW listed thereplacement of postal workers’ sick leave with a short-term disability plan and new work methodsthat the union considers unsafe. “The new methods have already created huge problems anddisruptions of mail service in Winnipeg, where they were first implemented last year. For newhires, the rollbacks include the imposition of a defined contribution pension plan rather than thecurrent defined benefit plan. The union is adamant in its rejection of a two-tier system.”
“Canada Post wants to eliminate the current pension plan for new hires nowand then impose the new scheme on all employees during a future round of bargaining,” Lemelin said.“We have to take a strong stand now to maintain our public postal service and ensure that futureworkers will not suffer a deterioration in their working conditions.”
Canada Post said it welcomes the assistance of a conciliator in itsdiscussions with CUPW, and is optimistic it will help reach a negotiated settlement. The terms andconditions of the current collective agreement will remain in place throughout conciliation.
The company stressed that mail service will continue as normal during thecurrent conciliation process and the parties will keep working on obtaining an agreement whichfocuses on wages and benefits, collection and delivery, and other topics.
When either party files for conciliation with the Government of Canada,the government then has 15 days to appoint a conciliator. The conciliation process normally runsfor 60 days, but can be extended by mutual agreement of the parties. After the end of conciliation,there is a 21-day cooling off period before any action can be taken by Canada Post or CUPW.Negotiations may continue after conciliation has been concluded.
