Canada Post, union to meet in coming days as wider strike action looms

The union representing Canada Post workers delivered its response to the national mail carrier’s latest offers Sunday, with the two sides expected to resume talks in the coming days amid reported impacts from the union’s national overtime ban.

In an afternoon statement, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) said it “provided our concepts and details” to mediators Sunday morning after working over the last few days to deliver responses to “issues in the offers and issues important to the union that the employer failed to acknowledge.”

Union president Jan Simpson said in the statement that the union learned at 12:50 p.m. Eastern that Canada Post had left the premises to review documents from the union, and that the employer may take a few days to respond.

“We would hope the Corporation is back to us as soon as possible. Although talks continue, the nationwide overtime ban remains in effect,” Simpson wrote.

Negotiators from the two sides did not meet face-to-face Sunday, Simpson said, with mediators serving as go-betweens.

In an email, Canada Post said it received the union’s responses “and will review them in detail.”

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It added that “it’s now time for urgency and we will respond in short order.”

4:21 Canada Post union imposes overtime ban

Canada Post presented its latest offers to the union on Wednesday, which included a hike in pay and plans to roll out a fleet of part-time workers.

The CUPW had called for a two-week “truce” to allow the union to review the offers and prepare a response, which the Crown corporation rejected.

The most recent agreement between the parties, which was extended by the industrial relations board after Ottawa intervened in the month-long holiday season strike late last year, expired Thursday.

While CUPW issued a 72-hour strike notice last week that could have seen workers walk off the job first thing on Friday morning, the union instead issued a national ban on taking overtime work while it considered the latest deal.

Canada Post said Sunday that delivered parcel volumes were down by 50 per cent year-over-year by the end of last week “and continue to drop” as customers across the country brace for continued labour disruptions.

“The impact of the ongoing uncertainty on our business is significant, but the impact on the Canadian economy is greater,” spokesperson Lisa Liu said.

The union said in a bulletin to members last week that the offers “fall short” on wages and other key sticking points in the negotiations.

Canada Post said the most recent offers reflect its financial realities.

An Industrial Inquiry Commission set up by the federal government found the postal service was effectively “bankrupt” and recommended a series of structural changes in a report released earlier this month.

That included recommendations to phase out daily door-to-door delivery and implement a “dynamic routing” system that could see mail carriers’ routes change on a daily basis.

—With files from the Canadian Press