Meet The New Boss; Same As The Old Boss?

Recently, a new CEO of Canada Post was appointed.  Doug Ettinger replaces interim CEO, Jessica McDonald, who will remain as Chair of the Board at Canada Post.  CUPW met with Mr. Ettinger for the first time last week.  A wide range of issues were discussed, but no commitments were made.

Mr. Ettinger claims that one of his top priorities is improving labour relations at Canada Post.  We’ve heard this talk before.  His predecessor made the same type of conciliatory remarks in public, but in practice continued with the same anti-worker policies. McDonald talked a good game, but at the end of the day, she was not willing to settle pay equity for RSMCs, to deal with urgent health and safety issues, and to treat workers with respect.

Ms. McDonald’s brief stint as CEO was marked with dishonesty. Will Mr. Ettinger’s be the same? Time will tell.

Postal workers are not stupid. We will not be fooled by empty promises. It will take more than nice words to solve the issues workers at Canada Post are facing. The injury crisis continues, RSMCs are still not being paid for all hours worked, and long routes, overburdening and overtime remain the norm at Canada Post.

It’s nice to hear that Mr. Ettinger wants to improve the relationship with the union.  We would like to be treated with respect.  We would like our issues to be taken seriously. But talking points will not solve problems.

Our simple message to the new CEO is this: direct your negotiators to get back to the bargaining table and negotiate collective agreements with CUPW. There is nothing in the back-to-work legislation that prevents the parties from negotiating agreements at any time. So what are we waiting for?

Our rights have been violated. We are living under unconstitutional legislation, going through an arbitration process that threatens to impose contracts on postal workers, denying us the right to vote on our own working conditions. If Mr. Ettinger has any respect for his workforce, he will not let that happen.

In Solidarity,