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.”
The employer has an obligation under the Collective Agreement and the Canadian Human Rights Act to accommodate workers and this includes accommodation for family status. Unlike accommodation for physical restrictions, which is covered by Article 54 of the Urban Collective Agreement, there is no specific article covering family status. Like other matters requiring accommodation such as religion and gender, it is included in the prohibited grounds listed in Article 5.01 of the Collective Agreements.
You should have now received your payment from Canada Post for the partial settlement of National Policy grievances N00-10-00001/N00-07-00037. It has come to our attention that there were issues with some of the payments the members received and some members did not receive their compensation. If you believe you were not compensated correctly, please notify AccessHR at 1-877-807-9090, or by email at [email protected].
During the 2011 round of negotiations, the employer changed some of the working conditions of CUPW urban unit members starting on May 30, 2011, until Bill C-6 came into effect on June 27, 2011. The Union filed National Grievance N00-10-00001 to challenge this decision. The bill provided for resuming postal service and extending the collective agreement as of February 1, 2011 until a new collective agreement came into effect.
[CUPW Translation] - 1. INTRODUCTION - [1] In the present case, I issued my first arbitration award on May 31, 2018. I then ruled on several issues in dispute, including the comparator group for rural and suburban mail carriers ("RSMCs") and permanent relief employees ("PREs"), namely the letter carrier group. It was also decided that these jobs are of equal value.[1]
ARBITRATION TRIBUNAL - CANADA - PROVINCE OF ONTARIO - Date: May 31, 2018
ADJUDICATOR: MAUREEN FLYNN
CANADA POST CORPORATION Hereinafter: “the Corporation” or “CPC”
AND
CANADIAN UNION OF POSTAL WORKERS - Hereinafter: “the Union” or “CUPW”
Collective Agreement: Collective Agreement for Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers between Canada Post Corporation and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers – Expires December 31, 2017 (the “collective agreement”)
AWARD OF THE ARBITRATOR (In the matter of a pay equity review process for the Rural and
Suburban Mail Carriers)
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.
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.
Today, May 28, Canada Post presented what it calls its “best and final” offers for both the RSMC and Urban bargaining units.
While Canada Post insists that its offers reflect the Union’s demands from our May 25 proposal, there are almost no changes from what the Employer put forward on May 21. There's no question: Canada Post is not negotiating. Canada Post is playing hardball.
Application deadline: June 30, 2025 - On the fifth anniversary of the passing of Sister Megan Whitfield, CUPW is honoured to offer the Megan Whitfield bursary, two financial awards to encourage aspiring trade union activists to continue the important work Sister Whitfield started before her life was cut short.
The Union has now heard back from Canada Post through the federal mediators. The Employer has proposed to return to the bargaining table Wednesday (May 28) to provide the Union with a response to our latest proposals.
Union negotiators and the National Executive Board spent the last few days, and nights, reviewing the Employer’s last offers and preparing responses to issues in the offers and issues important to the Union that the Employer failed to acknowledge.
Today, May 23, is the first day of a nationwide overtime ban. As of 12:01 a.m. today, members were called on to refuse to work more than eight hours a day and more than 40 hours a week. This is a legal strike action and all CUPW members must follow this direction.
The National Executive Board has called for a nationwide overtime ban effective May 23 at 12:00 am local time. That means members are being called on to refuse to work any more than eight hours in a day and refuse to work more than forty hours in a week.
Today, May 21, our negotiation committees received global offers from Canada Post for both the Urban Postal Operation (UPO) and the Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers (RSMCs) bargaining units. The Negotiators are currently reviewing and analyzing the offers’ contents. We will provide a more in-depth analysis shortly, but here are some of the main elements of the offers below...
After walking away from the table for the third time, Canada Post will finally table their global offers today. Our negotiating committee is currently on the way to receive the proposals.
This year, CUPW is proud to celebrate the Pride season under the theme "Workers United Against Hate" proposed by the Canadian Labour Congress. As we face a shocking rise in anti-LGBTQ hate in Canada and around the world, this theme is more important than ever.
On Monday, May 19, CUPW issued a 72-hour strike notice to Canada Post. This action was not taken lightly, but it was done for several reasons.
The collective agreements for the Urban Postal Operations and the Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers bargaining units, which were extended by the Government in December 2024, are set to expire Friday, May 23 at midnight.