Canada Post contract negotiations stall week before CUPW strike mandate expires

Online sellers sending orders in and out of Canada face growing uncertainty as the country’s postal service comes no closer to negotiating a deal with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW). eBay has been following the issue closely as some of its sellers have at times this summer halted listing activity rather than risk having mailed packages end up undelivered in the event of a strike or a lockout.

Both sides said they are willing to negotiate and blame each other for the stalled talks.

Canada Post added: “Under final offer selection, either party may refer outstanding matters to an arbitrator if negotiations reach an impasse”.

“Canada Post is appreciative that the arbitration process efficiently expedited the resolution of hard bargaining issues between us and the CPAA”, said Canada Post President and CEO Deepak Chopra.

First, the union could ask Canada Post to agree in writing to allow the strike mandate to be extended indefinitely.

At one point last month, Canada Post said mail volume had dropped 80% compared to the same period in 2015. “They are now focused on prolonging their strike mandate and the uncertainty it continues to cause for employees and Canadians”.

“If the union is serious about negotiating a deal without work disruption, Canada Post remains available to sit 24/7 at the table to hammer out a deal before August 25”, said the release.

In a statement issued yesterday (16 August) Canada Post said: “Key changes under the new collective agreement include a defined contribution pension plan for new employees represented by the CPAA”.

On Canada Post’s website, Mark MacDonell, General Manager of Labour Relations for Canada Post, wrote an update identifying the things that make arbitration attractive, and addressed concerns with the CUPW talks. “We’re good with that to resolve this current impasse”.

In the past, federal governments have imposed binding arbitration to settle deadlocked negotiations between Canada Post and CUPW.

Union President Mike Palecek says timing is a big part of this.

“We obviously can’t leave ourselves in a position where we’re not covered by a strike mandate, because that would give management the upper hand, and we wouldn’t be able to respond to the actions that they might take.”

The union has assured Canadians that it does not want to strike and letting the strike mandate expire on August 25 should not be an issue.

To this day, an agreement has not been made, and the CUPW is expected to announce a 72-hour strike notice as soon as (or just days before) the 60-day strike mandate expires.

“We’ve said from the outset that our intent here isn’t a labour dispute”, he noted. “Do they want negotiated collective agreements, or do they want to battle this out?”