Second Day of Hearings at the Industrial Inquiry Commission

Today, January 28, CUPW and Canada Post presented their rebuttals to yesterday’s presentations as well as the written submission to the Industrial Inquiry Commission in front of Commissioner William Kaplan.

Setting the Record Straight

In our presentations, we took on Canada Post’s self-serving submission and presentations: 

• Canada Post’s narrative about its $3 billion in losses from 2018-2023 leaves out key parts of the story. For example, over that period, Canada Post paid out hundreds of millions in one-time payments to settle its past violations of pay equity laws. 

• Canada Post also failed to take any action to address declining revenues from letter mail. Unlike almost every other postal system in the world, Canada Post barely raised its stamp prices between 2018-2023 despite major inflation. Had Canada Post raised its stamp prices gradually from 2019 to now, CPC could have earned hundreds of millions in additional revenue per year. CPC chose to keep its rates low, but now it has to turn to the Government for a loan. 

• Labour costs are not the problem. In 2023, Canada Post’s total labour and employment benefits costs were only $7 million higher than they were in 2018. Over the same time, non-labour costs were up over $800 million. 

• Our defined benefit pension is not the problem. Canada Post is on a mandatory pension contribution holiday and is currently not putting any of the Employer’s portion of its payments into the fund. 

• Canada Post bragged about its commitment to health and safety, but CUPW pointed out that postal services have the second highest frequency of disabling injuries in the federal sector. 

• They’ve also claimed repeatedly that CUPW wants full-time letter carriers to work weekends at double time. This is simply not true. We pointed out the many existing provisions in our collective agreements that allow Canada Post do weekend parcels at straight time.

Industrial Inquiry Commission is not a Mandate Review

We concluded our presentation pointing out once again our concerns about the way the Government and Canada Post are treating this process. We made it clear that an Industrial Inquiry Commission struck by the Minister of Labour as part of an action to suspend a legal strike is not the right place to discuss important public policy issues like the Canada Post Corporation Act and the Postal Service Charter.Any discussion about the future of our public post office deserves a fully public mandate review, with hearings, appropriate resources, timelines, and a scope for public participation across the country.

Next Steps

The next hearings are scheduled for February 19 and 20. We will provide details about those hearings when we receive more information.

Although we will continue to participate in this process to ensure the Union’s voice is heard in the proceedings, our goal remains to negotiate collective agreements that benefit workers, the public, and that ensure Canada Post remains a vibrant and important public service for all Canadians no matter where they live.

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In solidarity,