Ottawa – On April 16, 2019, Canada Post quietly tabled its Corporate Plan in Parliament and to no one’s surprise, at least not to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), the forecast was more doom and gloom. “Canada Post has a history of projecting losses and then outperforming their projections, while using those projections to cry poor to the public and at the bargaining table,” says Mike Palecek, CUPW National President. “This plan underscores the Corporation’s aversion to building a sustainable post office of the future.”
Postal workers' unions — the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and the Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association (CPAA) and more than 600 municipalities(1) and other allies are supporting the set-up of postal banking and making financial services available in every post office. This report recaps the case for postal banking, and shows how clear the path is for its implementation in Canada.
In her 176 page decision, Arbitrator Flynn accepted the “derived hourly rate” methodology proposed by CUPW and rejected the point of call approach proposed by Canada Post Corporation. She stated: “the Tribunal comes to the conclusion that the Corporation’s methodology must be rejected. It is not reasonably accurate nor is it reliable. Rather, it is fundamentally flawed and , consequently, produces so-called compensation results that do not correspond to the employees’ respective realities in light of all the evidence that was adduced in this case.”
Bargaining for a Better Future at Canada Post - Over the last several years, postal workers have faced attacks from both management and the Government. When we first launched the Save Canada Post campaign, many said that it was a lost cause. Even some of our allies didn't think it was possible to stop the cuts that had been announced. It's a good thing we didn't listen to them! After years of mobilization, we finally succeeded in defeating Harper's agenda and saved door to door delivery.
Despite considerable media coverage about the difficulty of finding licensed child care spaces, most prospective parents wait far too long before trying to apply for one. Many parents don’t think about their child care arrangements until late into their pregnancy or well into their maternity/parental leave.
To better understand how parents learn about child care and how best to get information into their hands early CUPW partnered with the Child Care Resource and Research Unit (CRRU) to survey CUPW members who were on maternity/parental leave.
We gained a number of insights into the best ways to communicate with members and about the kind of information they need. We learned word of mouth (family, friends and coworkers) is one of the main sources of information. So too is social media. Members also want information about how to apply for child care and about government fee subsidies. Many members talked about wanting to better understand their rights and the process to apply for EI maternity/parental leave, work accommodation and other work/life balance issues. These findings will help inform the work of the CUPW Child Care Fund over the coming months and years.
This paper is the latest in a series of annual survey reports that track child care fee subsidy rates across the country. Time Out 2017 follows three earlier surveys: The Parent Trap (2014), They Go Up So Fast (2015) and A Growing Concern (2016). The data shows that policy matters when it comes to parental fees with provinces providing operational funding consistently showing the lowest fees. Without doubt, child care fees in most of Canada are far too expensive for many. While the ongoing child care fee data is filling an important gap, fees are only part of the puzzle of how parents are coping with finding care for their children.
By Geoff Bickerton and Katherine Steinhoff, Canadian Union of Postal Workers
Prepared for the 25th Conference on Postal and Delivery Economics, May 24-27, 2017, Barcelona, Spain
Support Postal Banking - Download and Sign the Petition
Canada needs a postal bank. Thousands of rural towns and villages in our country do not have a bank, but many of them have a post office that could provide financial services. As well, nearly two million Canadians desperately need an alternative to payday lenders. A postal bank could be that alternative. Download and sign the petition urging the Government of Canada to instruct Canada Post to add postal banking, with a mandate for financial inclusion.
The April 28 election is happening as we are engaged in a fight for the future of our post office and our jobs. Canada Post is pushing for drastic changes which could lead to job cuts and negatively impact our communities. Canada Post’s sole shareholder is the Government. Who is in government matters. We represent a big voting bloc which could have an impact on election results – particularly in tight races. We can make the future of our public post office an election issue.
Now that hearings for the Industrial Inquiry Commission are complete, we'd like to remind members of some important dates in the weeks ahead. Commissioner Kaplan’s final report to the Minister of Labour is due May 15. His report will give the Minister recommendations about how to resolve the issues in dispute in bargaining. It may also include recommendations about the structure and operations of Canada Post. We made our position clear throughout the hearings that these types of questions must only be dealt with in a fully public mandate review.
Postal workers are well aware that the planet is getting hotter. More and more, we are facing extreme events - such as an increasing number of wildfires with their toxic smoke, lethal heat domes and atmospheric rivers bringing more rain, more coastal storms and more flooding. But it’s children who are most at risk.
A federal election has now been called for April 28, 2025. Although the Canadian Union of Postal Workers does not endorse any party, we will be putting pressure on candidates from all parties to commit to defending our public post office and good stable jobs.
On Thursday, March 20, CUPW will join U.S. postal workers in a day of action to defend the public post office.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) is facing one of the most serious threats in its history. Postal worker jobs and unions, and the USPS’s public service mission are under assault by the Trump administration that seems to have one end goal in mind: privatization.
Following targeted testing in late 2024 and early 2025, the Canada Post MyMoney Account is now available nationwide. This marks a key step in expanding Canada Post’s financial services offerings.
On March 3rd and 4th, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) continued with its constitutional challenge before the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB).