Canada Post rejects union's offer to delay potential strike

Canada Post has not agreed to delay a potential strike by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), effectively pushing the union to agree to its latest offer ahead of a planned labour action set to begin Friday.

According to negotiator Jim Gallant, the union had proposed a two-week pause on the strike — potentially the second in six months — as it reviewed Canada Post's latest offer on Wednesday.

That offer, addressed to the union's urban and rural-suburban bargaining units, proposes a 13.59 per cent wage increase distributed across a four-year period: six per cent in the first year, three per cent in the second year, and two per cent in the third and fourth year.

It also proposes six personal days to be locked into the next collective agreement, and what it referred to as "better" income replacement for those on short-term disability leave.

A statement shared by spokesperson Lisa Liu added that the corporation proposed "important changes to its delivery model" to increase flexibility and help Canada Post address its financial challenges.

It's withdrawing the proposals it made in its last offer to the union, including a new health benefits plan, changes to post-retirement benefits and enrolling new employees into its defined pension benefit plan.

The offer comes after Canada Post paused negotiations for a new collective agreement last week.

A CUPW representative shared a statement saying that Canada Post's "refusal" to accept a two-week pause comes "at a critical time" as the union reviews the offer.

"Reviewing legal wording takes time and careful evaluation. We need to properly assess the offers to ensure they respect the needs of postal workers. The stakes couldn't be higher," read the statement.

"Canada Post was well aware of the deadline for a disruption. We were hoping that, given they were causing the delay, we'd see a substantial offer on the table with the appropriate time for a review."

No 'meaningful changes' 

Weekend delivery has been a point of contention during negotiations between the Crown corporation and the union. Canada Post doesn't currently operate on the weekends, and both sides want to expand operations but disagree on the details.

While the company wants to hire part-time workers for shifts on Saturdays and Sundays, the union has pushed for full-time employees to take on that work, arguing that the Post is trying to make gig work a part of its business model.

Canada Post spokesperson Jon Hamilton told CBC's Power & Politics in an interview Tuesday that the corporation and the union discussions over the last several months hadn't led to any "meaningful changes."

He said that the company, after reviewing recommendations made by the Industrial Inquiry Commission released last week, wanted to reflect on the commission's findings before presenting the union with another offer.

Canada Post has lost more than $3 billion before tax since 2018 and is on track to record more losses this year, according to the company. The Crown corporation has stressed that its dire financial circumstances were exacerbated by a 55,000-member strike that began on Nov. 15 and lasted about a month before the federal government intervened.

The government announced in January that it would lend Canada Post more than $1 billion in repayable funds to protect it from insolvency.