Why Won’t Canada Post Negotiate With CUPW?

You may have heard by now the PSAC-UPCE and Canada Post have reached a tentative agreement. We do not know the details of this agreement, other than it is a four year agreement expiring in August 2024. Canada Post talks a lot about improving collaboration. Why won’t it start by negotiating with CUPW?

This Round of Negotiations

As you all know, we have been attempting to negotiate new collective agreements with Canada Post since the Fall of 2017. We worked with mediators and conciliators for over one year before invoking our right to strike on October 22, 2018. We thought we were close to collective agreements but then CPC simply stopped bargaining and pressured the government to impose back to work legislation. As part of this back to work legislation, the Government appointed a mediator/arbitrator who was tasked with resolving the matters in dispute. We attempted to mediate a settlement in December 2018, but we were not successful. We started the arbitration process in January 2019 and are nearing the end of this process.

We Have Always Wanted a Negotiated Settlement

Throughout the arbitration process, we have continuously issued public statements asking Canada Post management to come back to the table to negotiate new collective agreements. As of this date, they have not returned to the table. If CPC continues to refuse to return to the table and negotiate with us, we will get new collective agreements imposed upon us by the end of June 2020.

These agreements will expire approximately 18 months after that.

We have important demands with respect to wages, health and safety, pay for all hours worked by RSMCs, staffing and more. These issues must be addressed.

It Is Time For Canada Post to Show Some Respect For Postal Workers

During the COVID19 Pandemic, we have been on the front lines maintaining delivery to Canadians. Now is the time that Canada Post can show all the members of CUPW, that they appreciate the work that we do. Management has a choice. They can rely on unconstitutional legislation to deny us our basic rights or they can return to the bargaining table with fair offers that will improve the working conditions, staffing and most importantly the health and safety of Postal Workers. Now is the time to resolve the long standing issues between the parties and then the parties could possibly discuss longer collective agreements that would provide labour peace and security for CUPW members. Otherwise we will resolve all of these issues when we go back into bargaining in the Fall of 2021.

In Solidarity,