Canada Post workers give 72-hour notice to strike as company warns of financial impact
CBC News | Posted: November 12, 2024 11:31 AM | Last Updated: November 13
CUPW hasn't set a strike date despite notice, saying it will depend on progress of talks
The union representing Canada Post workers said it will be in a legal strike position on Friday, as the Crown corporation warns that a potential strike will further impact its already dire financial situation.
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 despite talks that began almost exactly a year ago 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.
WATCH | Union representing Canada Post workers issues strike notice:
The union said in a Tuesday statement 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."
A spokesperson for Canada Post confirmed to CBC News that the company had issued a formal lockout notice to the union, adding that unless new agreements are reached, the current collective agreements will no longer apply as of Friday.
The company has no intention of ceasing its operations, the spokesperson said. "Instead, the Corporation is using the means under this section of the Canada Labour Code to adjust operations based on its operational realities and business needs."
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," the minister said.
"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 said on Tuesday that some retailers had already switched service providers in anticipation of a strike, and the volume of mail and parcels were down significantly ahead of the busy holiday period.
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.
Union urging company to expand services
Simpson, the union president, told CBC News in an interview that CUPW is asking for a 23 per cent raise over four years. "The whole society is falling behind because of inflation and postal workers are no different," she said.
"Canada Post management is still getting their bonuses and many of our members are going to the food bank because [they're] not making a living wage."
Simpson added that the union also wants to see Canada Post expand its services — including offering postal banking and senior check-ins — as a way out of its current financial predicament.
"Canada Post has to look at bringing in revenue, not trying to fix the financial situation they have on the back of the workers," she said.
Some experts who've spoken with CBC News have said that the Crown corporation, which has asked Ottawa to rethink its mandate, needs to focus on its core business of mail and parcel delivery.
Jon Hamilton, a spokesperson for Canada Post, said in an interview with CBC News that the company is counting on the flexible delivery model to give its workers wage increases, protect their defined benefits and offer them job security.
"The union has said that we're far apart, and I think that's a fair assessment," Hamilton said. "But where we agree is on the need to secure the future of the postal service."
Parcels are the only part of the delivery business seeing growth, he said. "And if we don't have a flexible delivery model to compete for that, that business is going to continue to go to our competitors, as it has for the last several years."
Impasse over weekends, disability plan
Canada Post's proposal to expand parcel delivery service to evenings and weekends has been a point of contention during negotiations.
The company says that CUPW is requiring "serious constraints" on the proposal, which it says would negate any potential benefits of the change.
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.
WATCH l Sorting, health and safety changes a concern, union rep says:
Some businesses that rely on Canada Post to ship their products are bracing for impact: One shop owner in Toronto said that a strike would potentially cost his store $60,000 a month.
"Without being able to ship our product, it pretty well shuts down that part of our sales channel," said Don McCowan, the owner of Wheels and Wings Hobbies, a hobby store on Danforth Avenue in Toronto's East End.
McCowan said he'll try to arrange a backup plan with UPS. But he said that courier companies charge more — and with smaller volumes, choosing a new service "would eat into our profits."
"Forty-five per cent of our business goes out through Canada Post. So if all of a sudden we can't ship that 45 per cent, you can't meet your overhead."
Corrections:- A previous version of this story said that Canada Post had offered CUPW members an 11 per cent increase over four years. In fact, it is an 11.5 per cent increase. The story has been updated. November 12, 2024 8:24 PM